Using nothing more than the existing central heating system, a smart phone and a bluetooth speaker, the app allows users to see a heat pump in place at their home, hear what it would sound like, and feel the way it gradually heats their home to an optimum and consistent temperature, according to Warma UK.
The company, which specialises in securing and installing grant-funded energy-efficient measures including heating, insulation and solar power, says it understands that moving away from gas and oil boilers is a big commitment not everyone is willing to take, and their new tool is designed to enable people to try before they buy.
Warma UK has teamed up with Dr Mike Fell from the University College London’s Energy Institute to promote this new tool and simulate how a heat pump would perform in a user’s home.
Firstly, users can see what a heat pump will look like in situ, through an augmented reality feature. With just a smart phone or tablet, users can add a heat pump outside their home to get a realistic idea of how things will look the appliance in place.
Next, a couple of simple steps, using a Bluetooth speaker, make it possible to hear what an air source heat pump will sound like when running at full power.
Once users have seen and heard a heat pump at their home, it is time to feel how it would perform. The Test Drive a Heat Pump page provide full instructions on how to turn down the boiler's flow rate and simulate the way a heat pump gradually heats a home and maintains a consistent temperature.
Warma UK says there is a lot of misinformation in the public domain about heat pumps and their performance and it is determined to put the record straight and demonstrate how heat pumps can benefit not just the planet, but users wallets too.
In addition to its Test Drive a Heat Pump tool, Warma UK is actively promoting Nesta's new 'Visit a heat pump' scheme.
This enables people across the UK to see an air source heat pump in action and have their questions answered by heat pump owners. Interested parties can register their details at Nesta’s site (www.visitaheatpump.com) to find a heat pump near them and hear directly from owners to get first-hand reports of things like cost and performance.
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