BetaTalk - The Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Heating Podcast

Send us a textNathan discusses how he thinks LA's will need to know who the good engineers are and how the self employed may not want to become MCS.He also introduces us to BetaTeach, the methodology needed for effective training and how LA's, Manufacturers and Associations can all pledge their support.Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textLocal Area Energy Plans are something this seasons sponsors Energy Systems Catapult are keen to promote. Different parts of the country will require different stratagies to decarbonise heat, distribute power and organise transport. In the episode Nathan talks to community hero John Talylor who is involved with Greater South East Energy Hub, one of the five energy hubs  across the country. Energy Hubs are made up of local enterprise partnerships such as New Anglia in Nathan's region. John discusses what funding is available to local communities (e.g. Rural Community Energy Fund) and who can access it. John knows his stuff, he really does and it was great for Nathan to learn more about how regional energy stratagies are in a way the more localised version of the National Carbon budgets the CCC work on.A few local projects such as Swaffham Prior which is looking at having a heat network are discussed as well as UK Power Network and their work on future energy scenarios.Great episode.Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textAgile tariffs, wholesale electricity price, peak and off peak electricity are some of the themes being discussed here with Nathan's guests Helen and Karalos from https://www.evergreenenergy.co.uk/ and Leah from https://www.yourenergyyourway.co.uk/Nathan is talking to Evergreen Energy about the Homely device, a thermostat which monitors electricity pricing and can switch your heat pump on and off according to the electricity prices. Dynamic tariffs  being offerd from some companies will price electricity according to how much renewable surplus there is. But for a better explanation take a listenSupport the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textIn the first episode after betatalk won the British Renewable Energy Awards communication category Nathan is joined by two of his favourite engineers Steve and Steve. Along for the ride is Dominic representing the consumer perspective but who ls has vast experience regarding heat loss measurement and building fabric.Topics and themes discussed are do radiators need to bigger for heat pumps; pipe sizing for heat pumps e.g. can microbore be used for heat pumps.Electric capacity for heat pumps is also discussed along with buffer types and sizes.Both Steves talk about the solar thermal system designs and how winter sun is great for helping heat our homes. Senior Steve also discusses how heat pumps can extract heat from a river or the sea.It's a great episode this and we hope you gain some value from it. Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textThis episode was recorded mid 2020Nathan discusses heat as a service  with Matthew Lipson, Dave Smith and Jayesh Kanbi.Matthew works at https://es.catapult.org.uk/ (energy systems catapult) and has experience working at the Dept of Energy & Climate Change (now the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy ) and the Climate Change Committee. He regularly engages on social media with Nathan and other engineers in the heating space and is a firm friend of the podcast. Dave Smith is a heating engineer and has been in the plumbing and heating industry since 1982. He recently set up an innovative company to address a problem with condensate pipework  https://condensatepro.co.uk/Jayesh Kanbi is another innovator and has set up https://myboiler.com/. Jayesh is a second generation heating engineer and known for his technical competence.The topic is heat as a service. Matthew describes what this is and the potential advantages for both consumers and engineers but also in helping reduce emissions and reach netzero targets.  Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textIn this episode Nathan speaks with Adam Chapman from https://heatgeek.com/ about his experience with becoming MCS accredited. It's often heard how MCS is very complex for a heating engineer to undertake so Adam tries to help alleviate any of the mystery.Adam is finding the process enjoyable and hopefully we will see many more smaller companies and sole traders obtain MCS. However, we discuss how the green homes grant, which has driven up demand for technologies such as solar thermal heating systems and heat pumps has also created a bottleneck as installers now need to have trustmark accreditation also.You will hear Nathan and Adam discuss how a new installer may struggle to find a suitable first installation which wil be assessed by MCS because of the GHG and its attachment to trustmark.Take a listen and enjoySupport the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textIn this episode Nathan speaks with Adam Chapman from Vito Energy and heat geek which is an excellent resource for consumers and engineers. This episode centres around what we can do right now to our heating systems to reduce carbon emissions. Fabric First is inculcated and for obvious reasons. However, there is often something which can be done to the heating system at no cost (or for very little) and with no disruption to the customer which reduces emissions. Scale this up across the 22 to 23 million gas boilers installed and we can significantly lower carbon emissions from heatingThis episode mentions how the Energy Savings Trust (EST) conducted a survey on conventional and condensing boilers and found that they do not work at their badged up efficiencies. This suggests how energy performance certificates and energy assessors ticking a box because a boiler has A+ on it's casing is often completely irrelevant We hear Adam discuss modulation controls and thermostats, how boilers condense, priority domestic hot water (PDHW) and a host of other stuff. Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textIn this episode Nathan's guests myth bust heat pumps. He is joined by Bean from the Ground Source Heat Pump Association and Heat Pump Federation; Robin who is also from the GSHPA and Bill, a heat pump specialist. All 3 guests are engineers with a vast amount of knowledge with heat pump technology. Heat pumps are a recognised technology for helping the UK decarbonise heat and reach net zero. Unfortunately, there does seem to be some myths about what they can and can not do. Here are the myths around heatpumps we discussed:Inverter driven compressors are more efficient than fixed speed compressors. Bill starts us off with this one. As you will hear, inverters are efficient but again it comes down to design. Different heat pump designs and applications may benefit from fixed speed compressors. Heat Pumps are maintenance free and free energy. Kind of two myths rolled into one.Heat Pumps need to run all the time. Robin starts this one off by discussing an energy savings trust study and Bill finishes with a German study on ground loops.A high temperature heat pump can just replace a boiler. Again, you will hear, the guests discuss design. Low temperature heating is becoming more realised in the industry along with hydraulic design. Bean alludes to the new qualification the CIPHE are producing regarding this and also talks about some of the problems we find with underfloor heating (UFH) installation workHeat Pumps only work in new builds. Bean discusses how as an installer he was installing heat pump systems into grade 1 and 2 listed buildings. The topic of hybrid heat pump systems is brought up. All guests and Nathan considered the fact that boilers are not needed as back up. In district heating systems it may make sense but we can design heatpump systems to not need boilersHeat pumps only work with underfloor heating Robin discusses how some heat pump installations have been cancelled because of a notion UFH was needed for heat emitters. A problem especially in the non domestic sectorFitting a larger ground loop fixes most problems with ground source heat pumps Again we hear the importance of hydronic design and understanding pressure dropYou need a room thermostat in every room to comply with building regulations and for efficiency How do we control heat pumps and comfort. Listen to Nathan's guest talk about weather compensation and other forms of controlLow Loss Headers should be used on all heat pumps Hydronic separation, flow rates and delta t is par for the course in this chapterAll heat pumps are noisy Will heat pumps make frustrate our neighbours?Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textIn this episode Nathan discusses with Evergreen Energy how consumers are able to get help with the upfront cost of renewable heating technology.Evergreen Energy are an OFGEM approved investor who are able to offer consumers the chance to assign the RHI (renewable heat incentive) payments over to them in order to have a heat pump system installed at a much cheaper rate than is often considered. Listen to Helen explain how Evergreen Energy was engendered by entrepreneur Stephen Critchlow.Simon explains a little about the assignment of rights and also how their initiative helps: Installers transition into renewables within a supportive frameworkConsumers adopt low carbon technology with less costDeploy more low carbon technologyYou can find more about Evergreen Energy here: https://www.evergreenenergy.co.uk/Support the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky

Send us a textThe first episode of season 3 discusses the green home energy grant with renewable heating engineers Leah and  Steve and also Kathryn from the University of LancasterFor more information around this grant from the government visit the SimpleEnergy Advice website.This episode highlights how hard it can be for consumers and find out why Steve and other engineers have opted not to take part in the schemeSupport the showLearn more about heat pump heating by followingNathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky