Jersey Electricity : Mitsubishi praises JE renewable heating seminar

Jersey Electricity's Energy Solutions Team was praised by Mitsubishi Electric renewable heating experts today for the resounding success of their seminar 'All you need to know about Heat Pumps but were afraid to ask' held at the Radisson.

In the first of two sessions around 40 guests, including, heating suppliers, architects, developers and social housing officials heard presentations on 'How Heat Pumps Work', JSAP (Jersey Standard Assessment Procedures) for Building Bye-laws, how new European laws on refrigerant gases will affect commercial air conditioning installations and tariff innovations from JE for all-electric heating systems.

Afterwards a delighted Mitsubishi's Chris Whiteford said: 'The response in Jersey to this has been fantastic, with another 40 or so registered for the afternoon session. We feel lucky if we get 20 to attend something like this in the UK. It shows the level of interest there is in the Island for this technology and we at Mitsubishu are always willing to come here to offer more guidance, support and training for anyone interested.

Dave Heneker, formerly of Jersey but now a domestic and commercial energy adviser on new build in the UK said that unlike the UK SAP regulations, which took account of carbon emissions, Jersey's new regulations were based on total energy used by a building. This, he added, made heat pumps very attractive as they are so efficient, producing two to four times the heat than the electricity used to power them.

JE Energy Solutions Manager Ian Wilson revealed that the Economy 20 Plus uninterrupted discounted heating tariff, introduced last year for heating powered by heat pumps or electric boilers, could now be used in conjunction with panel heaters if they were wired on a separate circuit. This now makes panel heaters a viable option for those wishing to replace old, bulkier storage heaters.