The simple answer to the question can you use radiators with an air source heat pump is yes!

Radiators need to be sized for the flow temperatures your heat pump will be set to. The lower this set point, the more efficient your heat pump will be, and therefore the cheaper to run. The disadvantage of lower flow temperatures is, however, that the lower the water temperature, the more radiating surface area you need to emit the same amount of heat.

So if you currently have a oil fired boiler powering your heating system, with flow temperatures around 80C, and you exchange that boiler for a heat pump with flow temperatures of,  say 50C, you will need radiators double the size, or double panel radiators where you currently have single panel radiators, or two radiators in a room where you currently have one. If you set your heat pump to have even lower flow temperatures the radiator size will increase accordingly.

You will hear many people referring to over-sizing the radiators for heat pumps. I prefer to use the more appropriate term, right-sizing the radiators. All your heating engineer, or radiator supplier, will need to know, is the heat output you require from the radiator and the flow and return temperature to determine the size of radiator(s) you need to provide the amount of heat output you require.

If the radiator is sized correctly it will not matter what type it is, panel, decorative or skirting etc. they will provide the heat you require.

You will often hear that underfloor heating should be the only type of heat emitter you consider when using heat pumps. The fact that underfloor system can work very well with flow temperatures as low as 35C do make them an ideal partner for heat pumps. If, however, you have an old property it may be impractical to install an underfloor heating system, and in many cases correctly sized radiators are the only practical option. 

The other question people often ask if swapping out an oil boiler for a heat pump is – “Can I use my existing radiators”? This is not such an easy question to answer!

Your existing radiators can be used, but as explained above they might be too small, in which case you might need to add additional radiators into the system. Your heating engineer will also need to ensure that your system has been thoroughly cleaned, to make sure that suspended particles in the system do not clog up the filter they will install; to protect the heat exchanger in your heat pump from getting blocked (a very expensive item to unblock).

Of course every installation is different and my advice above is somewhat generic. The best advice of all is, call in an expert to survey your installation and they will let you know the best options open to you.

Photo by Ruthanne Reid

About the author: John Lightfoot is director at Thermal Energy Ventures Ltd.

If you have a question about anything in the above blog, please ask it in the comments section below.