We have a great chat with regular guest Steve about a solar thermal hybrid system he has recently commissioned for a customer. In the bulletin at the end we speak with Paul, a past president at the CIPHE about any barriers into renewables and retrofit.Sign up to the email at  http://www.betateach.co.uk/ to learn more about Steve and other engineers designs

BetaTalk

Solar Thermal Hybrid

We chat with Kim from the Heat Academy. Kim was asked to help train the supervisors of a large plumbing and heating company who install the heating on large developments (New Builds). He was shocked that in this case it seemed the boiler manufacturer had designers specifying heating systems that will not work very well with modern boilers. Heating system design is critical in this energy transition...does it help if the manufacturers are not fully understanding heating design themselves? 

Frustration With The Boiler Industry

You just have Nathan on this episode who wanted to help explain further what is going on with heat in a home e.g. how does heat move, how is heat measured, what is the relationship between energy (joules) and power (Watts)Sit back and enjoy. Please, please share this episode with others as it will help. If you are a heating engineer, PAS assessor or coordinator please sign up to the email list in the link below if you would like to be part of the Learning Support Platform Nathan is developing.https://mailchi.mp/6f1590825eb5/platform-signup-1

Can ALL Homes Be Heated With Heat Pumps - Theoretically YES

Big heat pumps powering district heat networks is the topic of conversation. Nathan chats with a well known figure from the vapour compression industry Dave Pearson, the Group Sustainable Development Director from Star Renewable Energy.Star Renewable Energy, based in Glasgow, Scotland is responsible for the world’s largest 90°C natural heat pump for district heating based in Drammen, Norway.Star uses ammonia, a naturally occurring refrigerant with zero ozone depletion potential for their heat pumps. They have just built the water source heat pump for the Clyde Bank district heating system run by  West Dunbartonshire Council.As well as chatting big heat pumps Nathan speaks to Dave about his business model idea for decarbonising domestic heat. At the end of this episode Nathan speaks with Jayesh about transitioning to heat pumps for the Optimized Retrofit Bulletin 

Big Heat Pumps - Talking to Dave Pearson from Star Renewable Energy

In this very honest episode Nathan chat&apos;s to Martyn Bridges from Worcester Bosch about 100% hydrogen boilers and hydrogen ready boilers, also known as H2 ready boilers. Worcester Bosch are a very well known boiler brand here in the UK who are also involved with renewable technology such as solar thermal, air to air heat pumps, air to water heat pumps and ground source heat pumps. There is a lot of confusion around hydrogen and the decarbonisation of heat and hopefully this episode is able to answer some questions.Nathan also discusses the new online benchmark system which has recently been introduced along with the topics of BS7593 and VDI2035 which are standards around corrosion in heating systems. The new heat pump courses from the heat pump association and the new low temperature heating course from the CIPHE are also on the agendaNathan would like to say a personal thank you to Martyn for the kind words he wrote in a about his grandfather in a private message last year. Nathan misses his grandfather lots as he passed away just before the world started talking about the heating industry. Martyn knew Van very well and, like Nathan, knows how much of an asset his knowledge would have been in the discussions we all now find ourselves in regarding the decarbonisation of heating.

What is a Hydrogen and Hydrogen Ready Boiler?

What is the best boiler features on some consumer sites. Unfortunately, these consumer sites have very little knowledge around boilers so it is best to take their advice with a pinch of salt .In this episode Nathan chats to Si Posket who is going to be doing a lot more heat pump work with his friend Craig from https://cbrookesheating.co.uk/ We also chat to Damon from https://blakemoreplumbingandheating.co.uk/ who has really impressed Nathan with his commitment to the industry and to learning.REMEMBER: a boiler or a heat pump is part of a heating system. It is the system which needs to be efficient. ALL boilers (which nowadays are condensing boilers) are designed for low temperature heating systems just like heat pumps are designed for low temp heating systems.

What is the Best Boiler - if you can not have a heat pump yet?

Zoning heat pumps and heating systems is the topic of this episode. We chat with Adam Chapman AKA Heat Geek who is one of the BetaTalk Heat Architects about a recent video he published on youtube https://youtu.be/zpTVIeUh04E Adam runs the Heat Geek Hydronics course and you can find a discount code at Nathan&apos;s website https://www.betateach.co.uk/We also get to chat to the first time with Jez Climas who is a very rare breed of merchant who actually understands the technology he sells along with the heating systems they will be going on. He has made an interesting career move from being and M&E consultant designing BIG heating systems to working at a company https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/  who have experience with PV systems and have branched into the area of heat pumps.We obviously cover the topic of zoning along with other topics such as commercial building management systems (BMS)Other topics include thermostatic radiator valves TRV&apos;s, valve authority, mass flow rate, mean water temperature of radiators and Delta T. We also discuss a favourite topic of Adam&apos;s: weather compensation controls.In the Optimised Retrofit bulletin we chat to Dr Rhiannon Wreede who has made the transition into heating and works for https://www.solarpvtech.com/. We get to hear how colleges running courses and the Awarding Bodies getting payed for issuing hundreds of thousands of certificates often leav learners high and dry with no progression into industry, a topic very close to Nathan&apos;s heart e.g. why is tax payers money for education funding going straight to colleges when it&apos;s the employers who need support to train our industry.Rhiannon has also written articles in HIP magazine about her journey

Zoning Heat Pumps Can Be Bad For Comfort & Efficiency

John Cantor has been working with heat pumps since the late 70s and with refrigeration much earlier. He wrote his book along with Gavin DJ Harper (one of the BetaTalk guest battery experts) back in 2010 just before the renewable heat incentive came into play. He is joined by regular guests Ken and Steve who are big fans of John&apos;s pioneering work. It&apos;s a longer than usual episode so please use the chapter markers if you wish to find specific topics being discussed. John&apos;s book is here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heat-Pumps-Home-John-Cantor/dp/1785007793/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=heat+pumps&qid=1626527840&sr=8-1

Chatting with John Cantor Author of the book Heat Pumps for the Home

Decarbonising heat is a world wide challenge and Nathan had a conversation with Nate in Virginia USA to see what is going on over there.Season 4 has a short bulletin at the end of each episode where Nathan and the Welsh Government Optimised Retrofit team listen to coal face engineers to learn about any issues and barriers they think they may face with a transition to renewables. 

Decarbonising Heat in America: a conversation with Nate The House Whisperer

In this episode Nathan chats to his friend Colin King from Sero group who manage the Welsh Governments Optimised Retrofit programme and are season 4 sponsor of BetaTalk. Colin spent time at the BRE and is highly regarded voice within retrofit. He helped develop the PAS 2035 standards which came about from the Each Home Counts review. Nathan is also joined by Isaac Occhipinti from HHIC  and Phil Mason from TrustMark to discuss how PAS2035 and TrustMark can fit into the transition to renewable heating and retrofitting our homes.In the BetaTalk Bulletin at the end of the main show we speak to Jack McGovern from the Glow Heat Group to hear his view on any of the barriers to retrofit. 

Retrofit with PAS2035 and TrustMark

Join James P and James C from Elite, a renewable and gas installation company based in Hull.We hear about their experience with the green homes grant and the renewable heat incentive and the uptake of heat pumps. James P comes from the PV industry and we learn how he teamed up with partner James from the gas boiler industry. We also chat with Lee Fischer who now works at Sero.Subscribe to receive the newsletter which features some of the finest heating engineers and their projects at http://www.betateach.co.uk/   

To Heat Pump Hull & Back

In this last episode of season 3 Nathan speaks with Evergreen Energy about how they will train their installers and engineers for the uptake of heat pumps. Gas engineer Ben was also on the show to discuss his training journey.

Evergreen Energy's Approach to the Electrification of Heat

In part 1 we heard Steve&apos;s common heat pump mistakes now we get to hear from another #betatalk heat architect Si Poskett.It&apos;s worth remembering heat pumps are just the heat source on a system, rather like a boiler is the heat source on a system. It is understanding the system as a whole which is the important part.  If you wish to learn about hydronic system design you can use my discount code BETA5 with this coursehttps://courses.heatgeek.com/ref/10/?campaign=BetaTeach&HeatGeek

5 Common Mistakes with Heat Pump Installs (Part 2)

Heat Pumps are fantastic technology. They first trialed in homes in 1948. But they do have to be installed and used correctly.  In the first episode we listen to Steve, one of the BetaTalk Heat Architects. In the second episode we listen to Si Poskett another BetaTalk Heat Architect Want to learn all about hydronics to help you in your profession? Whether you are an engineer, sustainability manager, environmental editor or working in the energy sector it will help you. Warning: this stuff can seem complex.Click the link to watch the video and use my affiliated BETA5 promo code for discounthttps://courses.heatgeek.com/ref/10/?campaign=BetaTeach&HeatGeek

5 Common Mistakes with Heat Pump Installs (Part 1)

Nathan talks to Victor Hyman who is the executive director of climate care, a cooperative of around 30 HVAC contractors in Ontario Canada, and Robin Curtis who has been involved with ground and water source heat pumps for many moons. This episode covers some history of GSHP as well as discussing what open loop and closed loop systems are both in water sources and vertical bore holes 

Ground Source & Water Source Heat Pumps

Nathan Gambling known as BetaTeach provides revision podcast episodes for construction, plumbing and electrical students and also travels the UK and Ireland to discusses energy, sustainability and environmental issues.He interviews local plumbers and heating engineers as well as manufacturers, trainers, students and other stake holders.Plumbers have been declared the most important front line health workers around the globe by the World Health Organisation and because water is the most energy intensive common substance to heat in the universe heating engineers are vital regarding concerns over global warming and climate change. In fact, the voice of plumbers and heating engineers are perhaps the most important ones we should all be listening too.Season 1 was sponsored by IMI Hydronic Engineering who are doing great things within the heating and energy sector to drive forward efficiency. Season 2 is sponsored by MCS.The views expressed in these podcasts are do not represent the views of any company.