Investigation of whole life emission for air to water heat pumps.

Through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and other mechanisms, the UK government provides financial supports for the installation and operation of renewable heating in place of fossil fuels such as heat pump systems. These incentives aim to help reducing the UK greenhouse gas emissions by meeting its renewable energy targets. However, the recent changes to the EU f-gas regulations may have significant impact on the growth of the heat pump technology, as some of the HFCs mostly used in heat pumps have been proposed to be phase-out. This report provides a critical review of refrigerants currently available and in future used for heat pumps and comments on the suitability and effectiveness of the proposed regulations in reducing carbon emissions. The heat pump refrigerant options are analysed comparing the performance from whole life carbon, operating cost, safety and practical perspective of typical air-to-water heat pumps for domestic applications.