BetaTalk - The Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Heating Podcast

Nathan sat down to chat all things heat pumps and training with Clayton Brown from CB Heating. EDF acquired CB Heating back in 2022 which is one of the largest heat pump installation entities in the UK. EDF’s strategic investment and partnership with CB Heating have supported the development of the HPIN Academy. This academy provides free training to upskill engineers at every level in the UK. The episode also discusses the recent partnership between Ideal Heating, a group Atlantic company, who manufacture and supply heat pumps. Take a listen Support the Show.

Heat pumps move energy from and energy source e.g. air, ground water (hence they are called :air source, ground source) to a sink. The sink is the emitter system within a home e.g. radiators, underfloor heating (UFH) and fan coils. Engineers, Installers, designers and the occupants of a home rely on radiators having accurate power output data. Unfortuanlty, it looks like their is a big problem in the radiator industry: the published power outputs are being over stated. This has huge consequences for heat pump systems which rely on designers designing a heat pump system which can operate at the lowest possible design temperature. Higher flow temperature to radiators requires the heat pump's compressor to work harder an use more electricity, resulting in more demand on the grid and higher fuel bills for the customer. Rob Nezard from UK Radiators has spotted a problem across the whole of the radiator supply chain and created a video to prove this. Nathan went to visit Rob (watch on youtube) to discuss the problem Support the Show.

In this episode Nathan chats to Paul Eastwood, Head of Energy Systems Planning at OFGEM and the past Senior Climate and Energy Advisor at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Also joining the heat pump conversation is engineer Barry Sharpe from Renewable Heat The discussion focuses on what an ideal customer journey is. Paul has had a heat pump system after Nathan recommended Barry to him. The episode questions if Paul's experience could have been better with the hope engineers may gain some useful insight. Topics covered are: This was one of Nathan's favourite recordings and he would like to note that Paul is speaking in a personal capacity and not on behalf of any employer. Please enjoy the episode. Support the Show.

Nathan chats to Barry Sharpe from Renewable Heat, Emma Bohan from IMS Heat Pumps and Steve Webster from EGE Energy about the MCS hybrid consultation, heat pump training as well as glycol and anti-freeze valves. Support the Show.

Sweden have had a long tradition with heating technologies and have incredible expertise regarding heat pumps. Nathan talks to the Swedish company AIRA, the new entrant to the UK's heating and home renewables industry. AIRA will be installing heat pump and other technologies across Europe bringing their expertise first to Italy, Germany and the UK. It's a great episode and Nathan enjoyed his conversation with Daniel Sarefjord, the chief executive of Aira in the UK, immensely. Support the Show.

As the title states, you are a very special group of people to me. You listen to me ramble on about heating for a start and I am very grateful for that.. So, thank you. I appreciate that very much. This is the first episode of 2024 and I wanted to do something a bit special. Something for you. As you know, this podcast is called BetaTALK... and the talk aspect is very important. In order to help accelerate the mainstream adoption of transitional heating technologies we first need people to start talking about them. We need to get people talking about heating in a positive and fun way. So how do we do that? This is something I care about and I know this is something you care about too. You care about getting people to talk about heating. But it's challenging. So, to help you, Lawrence and I have developed a tool. It's a practical tool and it will engender conversations around heating. It's new, it's fun, and it's very quirky. Take a listen and meet my partner Lawrence... together we have started up Jouln As well as home owner listeners if you are associated with Local Authorities, Social Housing Groups, construction companies and even energy suppliers and interested in Digital Twins /artificial intelligence and how they can help you then please contact us at lawrence@jouln.com Once again, thank you for being part of something special. Support the Show.

Season 9 is sponsored by Grundfos and in this episode Nathan speaks to James Twallin about the software and codes behind the heating industry. Support the Show.

In this episode Nathan chats to Paul Spence, a very competent and highly regarded heating engineer. Paul installs a range of heating system types including heat pumps. It's a long but highly interesting episode. If you want to hear Paul's credentials first skip to around the 1hr 05 min mark... and then come back to the beginning of course. Paul also runs the facebook group HeatPumps UK...check it out Enjoy! Support the Show.

Here is the link to the heat pump installer survey (lot's of prizes to be won) In this episode Nathan speaks with Glyn Hudson and Trystan Lea who along with open source enthusiasts have created open energy monitor and heat pump monitor. Heat pump installers and consumers are installing monitoring equipment such as heat meters onto their heat pump systems to obtain COP readings. COP stands for the coefficient of performance. The monitoring has provided the oppotunity for engineers and home owners to learn from each other about what works what doesn't work. Arguably, other monitoring schemes (which cost the tax payer money) have caused a headache to the energy transition movement because such studies were using incompetent installation companies to put these heating systems in. This has meant a low COP average which the fossil fuel industry loves to allude to. These schemes have not shed much, if any, data on system design so no one has really learned anything from them. Conversely, this platform has engendered a hive of learning with engineers not only being able to learn from each other but also being able to validate their competence to prospective customers. It's a great episode...take a listen Support the Show.

Nathan speaks with Sandra Trittin, co-founder of tiko Energy Solutions and co-host of the podcast Talking New Energy from LCP Delta. Joining Sandra is Talking New Energy's other host Jon Slow partner at LCP Delta. The discussion centres around how we may be able to heat pumps, batteries and EVs as as virtual power plants to increase the flexibility of the grid . Take a listen Support the Show.

In the first episode of a new season Nathan chats to James Macnaghten, CEO of Caldera. Caldera manufacture and supply thermal storage solutions for industrial heat processes. Get early access to their investment opportunity here Thank you to season sponsors Grundfos Support the Show.

This was a recorded live show at Installer 2023 and featured Ian Rippin from MCS along with Ken Bone and Leah Robinson from Your Energy Your Way. Ian discusses the consultation and the new changes coming. Support the Show.

Econic is a new venture from Nathan's friend Christophe Grossbaier. Its aim is to make the transition from gas boilers to heat pumps smoother for both customers and installers and uses a hybrid heat pump business model to achieve this. With an engineering background and Masters from Cambridge University, Christophe appreciates heat pumps can heat almost any building but understands customers still have their concerns and worries. This business model is designed to take away the anxiety a customer may have and at the same time offer them a cheaper alternative - both in upfront and running costs. Econic will be working with local community groups as well as Local Authorities. To find out more contact the team here Support the Show.

Nathan dives into the history of heating systems and looks at why chemical inhibitors were introduced to prevent corrosion. He also points out that manufactures are possibly misinterpreting the building regulations e.g. they are getting confused with a requirement within the building regs and the guidance contained in an approved document. It also takes a look at the Benchmark system and questions if it is fit for purpose. Is it biased towards maintaining growth of the chemical inhibitor companies? The episode also looks at how a 1960s home could be heated from single panel radiators with just a flow of approx. 53°C... Support the Show.

In this episode Nathan interviews Faye Wade, his favourite academic researching the heating industry. This is because Faye understands that the most vital component of the industry is the engineer and that we need to really listen to them. Joining Faye are Nathan's friends Leah, Sovay and Rhiannon who are all involved in installing and maintaining heating systems. This is a fab episode with lot's of discussion around the transition to heat pumps and things like certification bodies, awarding bodies and MCS etc etc Support the Show.

Alongside usual episodes from the BetaTalk Podcast, Nathan will be helping the Carbon Trust and the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero disseminate knowledge around the learnings from the Heat Pump Ready Programme with around 10 extra podcast episodes. This is episode 1 of these special Heat Pump Ready bulletins. The Heat Pump Ready Programme is part of the The Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which is a £1 billion fund, announced in the Prime Minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies, systems and business models in power, buildings, and industry. Nathan speaks to Nicola Lazenby who is the Energy Innovation Programme Manager, leading on the £60m Net Zero Innovation Portfolio Heat Pump Ready Programme at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Nicola has nearly a decade of experience leading innovation and technical research projects to support Government net zero policies. Nicola's passion for innovation and research stems from her academic background in civil engineering, where her PhD focused on pile foundation heat exchangers. Previous programmes which Nicola has led includes the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, Building for 2050 and the Energy Catalyst programme, in addition to her role in developing acceleration support services for the entrepreneurs supported by such funds. As an advocate for diversity in the heat pump sector, Nicola is the founding member of the Women in Heat Pump Network. Nathan also chats with Will Rivers from the Carbon Trust who leads Stream 3 of the Heat Pump Ready Programme and is Technical lead for the Green Homes Finance Accelerator. He also works on net zero strategies for social landlords. Support the Show.

In this conversation Nathan chats with Jonny Hancock, product manager at NIBE about some of the products and solutions they have on offer including their new exhaust air heat pump being launched at the InstallerShow 2023 You can find the links discussed on the show below NIBE Training University of West London PVT case study Support the Show.

*Update: in this episode Damon and host Nathan realised after editing there was a mistake. An easy one to make as engineers like Damon have so many numbers running around in their head. He mentions he sizes radiators to 50°C when in fact Damon is one of the engineers who designs to a lower flow temp of 40-45*C for a radiator heating circuit. In this episode we speak to the fabulous engineers Damon from Blakemore Plumbing and Heating and Barry from Renewable Heat about quotations. It's a hot topic so sit back and enjoy. We also discuss the Glowmarkt website being developed by consortium partners within the Heat Pump Ready programme which Nathan, the host of the show, is part of. Support the Show.

I really enjoyed this episode chatting with Andrew Middleton, Managing Director at British Gas Zero and Steve Petrie, regional manager at British Gas Zero who also is a former British Gas engineer. I brought along for the ride my friend Adam Gilhespy from Carno to help me host the conversation as he also is a former British Gas engineer and like Andrew understands strategy and processes. For anyone who knows my podcast I started it so on the ground engineers could have a more amplified voice. Unfortunately, in the energy discourses I'm privileged to be a part of these days the coal face engineers are not always being listened too. It is why it was refreshing when Andrew reached out and asked if he could come chat with us on the podcast. Andrew is one of my listeners and openly admits he has found it extremely useful to listen and learn from the engineers I have had on the show. Enjoy the show Support the Show.

Recycled refrigerant and Energy Performance Declarations are discussed in this episode alongside the wider discussion around whole life carbon and the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard. Nathan's guests are: Ryan Philp, the Business Development Manager at Daikin Ellie Burkill, Energy Sustainability Consultant at XCO2 Sara Godinho, Associate at XCO2 To hear what Daikin are doing with recycled refrigerant skip to 1 hour 2 mins... a link is provided in the chapters tab Support the Show.