Heat the Streets, a project coordinated by Kensa Utilities, has moved onto its next phase with the installation of ground source heat pumps in newly built apartments in Carlyon Bay near St Austell. The renewable heating project enables developers to get ahead of the Future Homes Standards, set out by the government, and install highly efficient, renewable heating.

“I was pleased to meet the team from Kensa and see their innovative project in Carlyon Bay. The Heat the Streets initiative is an excellent one and it was useful to hear more about the benefits of ground source heat pumps as an energy supply method that will be critical to help the country achieve its green energy goals for the future,” commented Cornwall Councillor for Mevagissey and St Austell Bay, James Mustoe.

“It is good to see Kensa working with a range of properties across Cornwall, New and old, private, and social rent, to showcase the flexibility of the ground source heat pump and the ease in which it can be installed and then left in situ. I look forward to seeing this work continue as a viable option for a greener and cleaner energy future for Cornwall.”

To motivate developers switch to renewable heating, Kensa Utilities has decided to pay for the ground array infrastructure through Heat the Streets. This means that they can install ground source heat pumps in their developments for less than the costs of air source heating.

Although air source heat pumps cost less to install than ground source, they can suffer corrosion damage at coastal locations such as Carlyon Bay, this increases maintenance costs and reduces the lifespan of the equipment. These new apartments will benefit from ground source heat pumps which are located inside, away from the elements. Better yet, the heat pumps are manufactured by a Cornish company just twenty miles from site.

Heat the Streets will soon enter its most ambitious phase street by street retrofit of ground source heat pumps in the Cornish village of Stithians. Kensa Utilities are replacing existing heating systems in the village with efficient Cornish made heat pumps, with no upfront costs to the homeowners.

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