Maker ready for more demand

The day I visit the heat pump factory of Octopus Energy in Craigwon, Northern Ireland, Temperature in London reached 29 C,

Some of the employees who are usually located in the south of England are smiling. It is amazing to avoid heat, they say.

And who can blame them. Climate change is heating BritainTo do something about that, Decarbonising our energy systems – With domestic heating – more and more important.

Heat pumps run on electricity, not oil or gas, and octopus is manufacturing heat pumps of its own design in Northern Ireland.

“It becomes hard because you go up – it’s like levels in a game,” I say, one of the workers here, says Patrick Dorn.

He is referring to how, in only less than one year, he is completing training at each stage of manufacturing process.

From fitting pipework to attaching bundles of cables, which connect the internal electronics of the heat pump. “I get to do something different every day,” encourages Dorn.

The government wants to see 600,000 heat pumps in Britain’s homes annually by 2028, just three years away.

While establishment Has recently happenedThe country is far behind that goal. The total UK heat pump sales was slightly below 100,000 in 2024.

After Russia’s invasion in Ukraine in 2022, there was a demand for heat pumps in gas prices in Europe – but it Enthusiasm has been cooled since,

The gas has become a little cheaper again, which means that there are summer pumps Hard to compete Against the gas boiler in case of ongoing cost.

This factory, in a medium-sized warehouse, can churn 600 heat pumps per month, I am told-and it will soon doubled when another production line will be activated.

And in theory, the octopus can present additional changes here and create a number of units several times. If high demand is physical.

“We can have a plug-and-play solution that works in most homes in the UK,” says Amy Clarke, the head of the commercial, as she explains why the octopus wanted to build her heat pump-which is unusual among the power providers, at least to say.

Other heat pump makers, including Valent, have UK manufacturing sites. And Copland, which makes heat pump components, is a factory here in Northern Ireland. It supplies compressors to octopus.

Heat pumps work by absorbing heat from the environment, usually air. This is a way of free heat harvesting, if you want.

The ambient heat heat causes a cold inside the pump and becomes hot. A compressor squeezes the refrigerant, causing its temperature to rise yet.

Finally, a heat exchanger transfers this heat to the water that pumps around your radiators.

The octopus heat pumps sports an unusual design. They come in a dark brown plastic cover. I have to accept, for me, it looks a bit door – but it packs some original technology.

Director of Manufacturing, Metusz Dehrst, an internal metal plate states that the company has flowed cold through this plate, absorbs heat from the electronics of the machine and cools them. “This is a performance benefit,” says Sri Dehrst.

He also says that the heat pump cover includes small gray insulation beads to reduce heat loss from the system. In fact, the same type of beads are sometimes used to insulating the walls of the cavity in buildings, they explain.

Heat pump technology Has been around the 1800s,

Zeewei MA at Durham University says that the construction of these devices is relatively straightforward – when he was a PhD student, he made himself one.

“It works fine,” he remembers. Companies such as octopus are capable of purchasing in main components and collecting a finished product. “There is very little space to improve anything,” Dr. Ma is argued.

The octopus will probably disagree. They say that their design options make a difference on overall performance, which the firm can track thanks to several heat and pressure sensors that secretly secretly within the device.

Heat pumps can produce several kilowatt heat for every kilowatt electricity, which they consume, a ratio known as their co-skilled performance (COP). To ensure that the COP is as high as possible, actually matters in case of low cost.

The octopus technicians can intervene that data from the heat pump’s sensor should indicate a severe decline in performance. And customers also get an observation of the efficiency of their heat pump through the smartphone app.

To ensure that the heat pumps have been established competently, is paramount, Steven Metkaf at Warvik University. He and the colleague sometimes work with Mitsubishi, with a heat pump factory in Scotland.

“This may be a difference between a policeman of 2.5 vs. 4 – your bills will be on the scale with it,” they explain. “It can be a large punishment for a bad installation.”

Public acceptance of heat pumps rests on those who believe that such a system will not be out A huge headache – However, it is worth saying that other countries such as cold Norway, Heat Pump Has hugged for a long time By local people.

Octopus says that the surveys by their customers suggest that the majority detect their heat pump the same or less cost than their old gas boilers, and provides heat that is more comfortable.

Paul Kenny, Director General of the European Heat Pump Association, an industry body, says that making fossil fuels difficult is a way to increase the demand for home appliances using electricity as an alternative.

He says, “We currently have factories that are on low -capacity factors, they are useless or walking well what they can walk,” he says, currently mentioning the dull demand of heat pumps in Europe.

There may also be more stability about subsidy.

Despite being Highest ratio Northern Ireland is the only area within Northern Ireland Britain or Ireland, especially polluting oil heating system of any UK nation Is not widely available Grants to reduce the cost of a heat pump installation.

After my factory tour, I indicate irony for making heat pumps here for the comfortable program director of TJ Route, octopus. “This is incredibly irony,” he agrees.