Senior Technical Services Manager at Smith’s Environmental Products, Simon Butcher explains how their Space Saver plinth heater can work with heat pumps to heat kitchens.
It’s always useful to have a range of solutions at your disposal when heating a dwelling with a heat pump. There are the conventional heat emitters such as radiators and towel warmers of course, but sometimes a more creative solution is worthy of consideration. Many kitchen designers, installers and new build developers already utilise plinth heaters such as Smith’s hydronic or electric plinth heaters in kitchens. Experience until recently has shown a reluctance from heat pump installers to use hydronic plinth heaters, as they weren’t aware of the product evolution that has taken place.
Smith’s has worked with large housing associations and interacted with national energy suppliers and merchants to provide a new fit for purpose product to be installed with heat pumps. To provide some context, twenty years ago most heat generators sources were gas or oil-fired boilers and a 45oC Low Temperature Cut-out (LTC) would have been used to hold off the fan until the coil reached this temperature. Moving forwards to the modern day, we now utilise a 33oC LTC which provides an excellent balance between the needs for a heat pump to modulate down to 35oC and still function.
Furthermore, Smith’s plinth heaters work exceptionally well with a low differential between the flow and return temperatures. Heat pumps can perform superbly well with a 5oC differential between the flow and return temperatures, making a great product partnership.
Where circumstances mean pipework cannot easily be run to a kitchen, utility room or other appropriate space, it’s worth considering an electric plinth heater. Many times, where heat pumps are installed, it is also common to find photovoltaic panels and even battery storage as part of the mix too. In the prior scenario you can be assured of a very good solution to fit in with whatever challenges the installation may present.
Clearly demand for heat pumps is going to continue growing as part of the UK government commitments to reduce Carbon emissions. Schemes such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) will continue to drive installation numbers upwards. The use of PV and battery storage would seem to be a no brainer if you have committed to a low carbon heating solution too. If you are seeking a highly efficient and sustainable approach to home heating, you also need to consider the best emitter solution to provide comfort conditions in your home too.
With so many advantages it is a surprise to me that more homeowners haven’t jumped into the world of renewables more enthusiastically. Now we find ourselves with the added driver of the 2025 Future Homes Standard and amendments to parts F and L of the building regulation this is the time to have as many options as possible and Smith’s Space Saver plinth heater ranges offer an excellent solution for new build and refurbishment projects.
Of the 184,390 (according to the ONS) new homes completed in 2024, 10.7% were fitted with a heat pump (Source: Heat Pump Association). When it comes to photovoltaic panels the adoption rate is much higher with around 40% of all new build house completions in 2024 having photovoltaic panels installed (Source: MCS). The overlap whereby new homes with both a heat pump and PV being installed in tandem is likely to increase significantly to help to offset the increased use and therefore cost of electricity when using a heat pump. A plinth heater, whether hydronic, electric only or dual (hydronic and electric heating) offers an effective and convenient solution to kitchen heating.
Whilst a new -build home allows the best scenario to optimise the benefits of meeting the Net-Zero criteria with both a heat pump and PV, installing a heat pump, and/or PV, into an existing property can still reap most of the benefits enjoyed by new-builds. Able to operate at Flow temperatures as low as 35oC a hydronic Space Saver plinth heater can solve heating problems in a kitchen without any upheaval or loss of wall space. If PV is included in the Net-Zero improvements, then an electric only Space Saver plinth heater is a suitable solution especially if storage batteries are installed.
For more information on Space Saver click here