What is an air source heat pump and how do they work ?
An air source heat pump is a low carbon heating system
An air source heat pump is a low carbon heating system and works differently to a boiler. Rather than burning a fuel like gas or oil, it uses electricity to transfer heat from one place to another. In this case, from the outside air to your home to provide space heating and hot water.
You have unknowingly been using a heat pump for decades in your own home - a refridgerator! The technology inside an air source heat pump is very similar to that of a domestic fridge - transferring heat from one place to another - the back of your fridge is warm because it is removing heat from the food inside the fridge out into your kitchen.
There are lots of myths surrounding air source heat pumps - Do see our Air Source Heat Pumps Myths explained page for clarification on common misperceptions too!
Keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer
An air source heat pump takes heat from the outside air and transfers it to a working fluid. It can do this even when the air is well below freezing. The heat pump then uses a compressor to change the pressure and temperature of the fluid until it's warm enough to provide heating for your home. In the Summer months the technology can work in reverse and generate cool air when attached to a ventillation system. They are very quiet operationally too. The physical pump unit is usually installed to the side or rear exterior of a property, with fairly minimal construction work required.
The heat pump uses electricity, so it is not free to use and it is not yet zero carbon. But provided that the heat pump is properly installed it will produce more energy as heat than it uses as electricity. If it runs efficiently it can be cheap to use and will be a low carbon heating option for your home.
Heat pumps are more efficient when they give out heat at a relatively low temperature. They're often used with underfloor heating, as this can operate successfully at low temperatures, but they can be also be used with conventional radiators.
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Gasway Privacy Notice Personal Information Gasway Services Limited is committed to the responsible handling and protection of personal information. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) defines personal data as any information related to a person that can be used to directly or indirectly identify them. This includes physical attributes, location data, online identifiers (including IP addresses), identification numbers, health information and economic, cultural or social identify of a person. We process (collect, use, store, share) personal information where necessary to provide our services and for our operational and business purposes as described in this Privacy Notice. We want to be clear about our privacy practices so that you can make informed choices about the use of your information, and we encourage you to contact us at any time with questions or concerns. How we use your information This privacy notice tells you how we, Gasway Services Limited, will collect and use your personal information to enable us to provide our services. The information we process can be collected directly from customers or from other organisations where we process information on their behalf. Why does Gasway need to collect and store personal information? Gasway processes personal information for the following purposes: • Servicing, repair and installation of gas appliances and heating systems • For the protection of employees, customers, contractors and sub-contractors • For the prevention of fraud and legal proceedings • Feedback from research and surveys on how we can provide better services • Communication with our customers to provide updates relating to our business and services • For the management, wellbeing and support of our employees • For the management of financial services • For general day to day corporate operations and due diligence We are committed to ensuring that the information we collect and use is appropriate for these purposes and does not constitute an invasion of your privacy. Special category information Occasionally we collect and process what may be considered special category information (sensitive personal information). Sensitive personal information is a subset of personal information and is generally defined as any information related to racial/ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health, other medical information including biometric and genetic data, or sexual life preferences. Gasway will only collect this information if it is necessary to provide our service. Special circumstances To provide a duty of care to employees, customers, contractors and sub-contractors we will process and share relevant personal information for their protection. This will be an alert on our management system to visit in pairs (DNVA). How will Gasway use the personal information it collects about me? Gasway will process the information you provide in a manner compatible with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We will endeavour to keep your information accurate and up to date, and not keep it for longer than is necessary. Gasway is required to retain information in accordance with the law, such as information needed for financial, legal and audit purposes. How long certain kinds of personal information should be kept may also be governed by specific business-sector requirements and agreed practices. Personal information may be held in addition to these periods depending on individual business needs. Under what circumstances will Gasway contact me? Our aim is not to be intrusive, and we undertake not to ask irrelevant or unnecessary questions. We may sometimes contact you for feedback by doing research or asking you to take part in a survey, this enables us to make changes and improvements to our services. We may also communicate with you when we have updates or changes to our business or if you have previously been a Gasway customer. If you have provided us with your email and or mobile number we will contact you in this way to communicate. We consider this communication to be within our legitimate interest of lawful processing. Can I find out the personal information that the organisation holds about me? Gasway at your request will provide you with a copy of the personal data we hold about you. This is referred to as your right of access (subject access request). You are entitled to receive any information that identifies you as an individual, including the following information: • The lawful conditions applicable to the processing of your personal information. • If the processing is based on legitimate interests (processing is necessary for the operation of our business) we will advise which legitimate interest applies • The categories of personal information processed • Recipient(s) or categories of recipients that the data is/will be disclosed to. • If we intend to transfer the personal data to a third country or international organisation, information about how we ensure this is done securely. The EU has approved sending personal data to some countries because they meet a minimum standard of data Page 3 of 4 protection. In other cases, we will ensure there are specific measures in place to secure your information. • How long the information will be stored. • The source of personal data if it wasn’t collected directly from you. Your rights as a data subject (Customers of Gasway) At any point while we are in possession of or processing your personal data, you, the data subject, have the following rights: • Right of rectification – you have a right to ask us to update personal information if you have a reason to believe that it is inaccurate or incomplete. • Right to be forgotten – you have the right in certain circumstances to ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records. Especially if you think we are processing your personal information where it is no longer necessary or where you believe it is unlawful. • Right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to temporarily stop processing your personal information if you have concerns over the accuracy of the information in some way. • Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation. • Right to object – you have the right to object to the way we process your personal information if you consider Gasway are being unlawful. • Right to object to automated processing – you have the right to object to decisions made about you from automated processing. (Please note Gasway do not use your personal data to make automated decisions about you). 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Call Freephone 0808 168 4555 (please tell us you are a customer of Gasway) Write to us Data Protection Officer Flagship Housing Group Limited 31 King Street Norwich NR1 1PD Lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority If you have any concerns regarding how Flagship Group handled your request, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) details below: Information Governance department Information, Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Cheshire, SK9 5AF