BetaTalk - The Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Heating Podcast

Send us a textCorrosion is a big problem in wet central heating systems. The water within the heating system is the cheapest yet regarded as the most important component. Unfortunately, it's perhaps the least understood and often neglected.Many boiler breakdowns are caused by corrosion and in a transition to heat pumps we will need to be careful about water quality.Nathan chats to his good friend Ricky from Thoroughflush and Simon from elexion about VDI2035.VDI2035 is a German standard for water quality and unlike the BS7593 (2019) it understands the importance of system design.Simon explains how in the commercial sector, where heating equipment is very expensive, it is vital to have a good water quality regime. elexion is known for understanding how to condition water using a non chemical method and they were recently involved with the new update to BG50 (BSRIA) which is the bible of water quality used in the industry.The methods Simon and Ricky uses to test and condition water are now being used in the domestic sector and many of the engineers Nathan has on his show now use this chemical free method to protect heating systems from corrosion.The method relies on removing the salts and minerals from the fill water which reduces the conductivity of the water and helps slow down the process of corrosion, especially if too much oxygen is getting into the system. This demineralisation process uses ionic exchange. The good news is, if your water tests for low conductivity, good system design (such as the use of a deaeration device) can be all you needIf you are a housing association, university or a Local Authority and you are interested in learning more about water quality contact BetaTeach at learn@betateach.co.uk as Simon and Nathan are able to offer some training around this area.Some nice science in this episode such as cations and anions, the positive and negative ions found in our tap water such as calcium carbonate.  Like measuring heat loss is so important when working out the design of a heating system, measuring the conductivity and pH of the fill water is also extremely beneficial and can lead to the correct strategy for water quality control. Enjoy the episodeSupport the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textNathan chats to a good friend of the podcast, Guy Newey, about decarbonising our homes and heatingGuy is Director of Strategy and Performance at the Energy Systems Catapult - (sponsor of season 3 of BetaTalk) He was the Energy Adviser to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Greg Clark and Special Advisor to former Energy Secretary Amber Rudd. He has also worked as Head of Policy at OVO, one of the UK's energy suppliers, and was Head of Environment and Energy at think tank Policy Exchange.The episode discusses the work at the Energy System Catapult and some of the challenges for home owners. But Nathan and Guy are interested in the business model Heat as a Service or otherwise known as Comfort as a Service. These models can be beneficial to homeowners as well as incentivise innovation, efficient energy use and a race to the top rather than the bottom in the heating sector. Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textNathan has a conversation with industry veteran Bob Beattie about air to air heat pumps which have been heating and cooling us for many years outside of our homes.Bob and Nathan discuss mini splits, multi splits and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems (otherwise known as variable refrigerant volume VRVOften, discussions around heat pumps in the media only concentrate on air to water heat pumps e.g. air source heat pumps which transfer heat to a wet system such as underfloor or radiator circuits or ground source heat pumps which transferor heat energy to wet heating systems.Air to air heat pump systems are very efficient and will work well in some domestic situations. They also provide heat removal from a room otherwise known as comfort cooling and often called air conditioning.Enjoy the episode and please share on social media and with friends and work associates Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textNathan speaks with his season 4 sponsors Sero and the Welsh Government Optimised Retrofit ProgrammeCheck out what the team all look like here https://youtu.be/vLsZNO9UPuACall to action for installers and SME's https://www.optimised-retrofit.wales/partners-procurement-sme/More info on Sero https://sero.group/press-room/sero-sets-the-standard-for-delivering-zero-carbon-homes/Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textThe long awaited strategy was out this week and Nathan had the chance to chat with Matthew who heads up the electrification team.BEIS have worked hard to pull this strategy together which is bound to please some and perplex others. The boiler upgrade scheme is hot topic and "heat pumps" trended the day of the announcement.  Take a listen on the BetaTalk PodcastSupport the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textWe chat with Kim from the Heat Academy. Kim was asked to help train the supervisors of a large plumbing and heating company who install the heating on large developments (New Builds). He was shocked that in this case it seemed the boiler manufacturer had designers specifying heating systems that will not work very well with modern boilers. Heating system design is critical in this energy transition...does it help if the manufacturers are not fully understanding heating design themselves? Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Explore the role of heat pumps in optimizing heat transfer in residential buildings, understanding heat movement and energy needs, optimizing water flow for efficient systems, heating with body heat and heat pumps, measuring heat loss and insulation importance, and challenges for engineers in heat pump installations.

Send us a textBig heat pumps powering district heat networks is the topic of conversation. Nathan chats with a well known figure from the vapour compression industry Dave Pearson, the Group Sustainable Development Director from Star Renewable Energy.Star Renewable Energy, based in Glasgow, Scotland is responsible for the world’s largest 90°C natural heat pump for district heating based in Drammen, Norway.Star uses ammonia, a naturally occurring refrigerant with zero ozone depletion potential for their heat pumps. They have just built the water source heat pump for the Clyde Bank district heating system run by  West Dunbartonshire Council.As well as chatting big heat pumps Nathan speaks to Dave about his business model idea for decarbonising domestic heat. At the end of this episode Nathan speaks with Jayesh about transitioning to heat pumps for the Optimized Retrofit Bulletin Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textIn this very honest episode Nathan chat's to Martyn Bridges from Worcester Bosch about 100% hydrogen boilers and hydrogen ready boilers, also known as H2 ready boilers. Worcester Bosch are a very well known boiler brand here in the UK who are also involved with renewable technology such as solar thermal, air to air heat pumps, air to water heat pumps and ground source heat pumps. There is a lot of confusion around hydrogen and the decarbonisation of heat and hopefully this episode is able to answer some questions.Nathan also discusses the new online benchmark system which has recently been introduced along with the topics of BS7593 and VDI2035 which are standards around corrosion in heating systems. The new heat pump courses from the heat pump association and the new low temperature heating course from the CIPHE are also on the agendaNathan would like to say a personal thank you to Martyn for the kind words he wrote in a about his grandfather in a private message last year. Nathan misses his grandfather lots as he passed away just before the world started talking about the heating industry. Martyn knew Van very well and, like Nathan, knows how much of an asset his knowledge would have been in the discussions we all now find ourselves in regarding the decarbonisation of heating.Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textWhat is the best boiler features on some consumer sites. Unfortunately, these consumer sites have very little knowledge around boilers so it is best to take their advice with a pinch of salt .In this episode Nathan chats to Si Posket who is going to be doing a lot more heat pump work with his friend Craig from https://cbrookesheating.co.uk/ We also chat to Damon from https://blakemoreplumbingandheating.co.uk/ who has really impressed Nathan with his commitment to the industry and to learning.REMEMBER: a boiler or a heat pump is part of a heating system. It is the system which needs to be efficient. ALL boilers (which nowadays are condensing boilers) are designed for low temperature heating systems just like heat pumps are designed for low temp heating systems.Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky