Explore every episode of the podcast BetaTalk - The Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Heating Podcast
Dive into the complete episode list for BetaTalk - The Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Heating Podcast. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Heat Pumps in Edinburgh - a discussion with SNIPEF
In this episode Nathan chats with Fiona, CEO of SNIPEF and Barry, a regular podcast guest and a Snipef member.
Snipef presented talks at the Green Homes Festival during Edinburg Festival month and Nathan discusses the talks with his guest and the potential Edinburgh has in switching to heat pumps
This is the second episode of the special Heat Pump Ready podcast series, in collaboration with the Carbon Trust with funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
In this episode, Nathan talks to 4 Heat Pump Ready projects to discuss ‘How Innovation can improve the heat pump survey and design process’.
Key topics discussed include:
- Ways to improve heat loss calculations, the limitations of standard methods and the potential role of measured heat loss in heat pump surveys.
- Innovative tools to improve and streamline the survey process, potentially reducing the need for surveyors to visit properties to generate quotes and system designs
- What tools do engineers and installers need to deliver an excellent result to their customers?
A summary of the speakers and their Heat Pump Ready projects is provided below:
Thomas Whiffen – GEO
Utilising data from an existing portfolio of energy modelling and smart thermostat technologies, GEO is looking to provide a solution that will deliver an estimate of a heat pump system required for a property before a boots-on-the-ground assessment.
Hermione Crease – Purrmetrix
Working with Hoare Lea, this project will use in-home energy monitoring to calculate the heat loss of a property and provide a forecast of appropriate heat pump products that would suit the homeowner.
Richard Jack – Build test Solutions
In conjunction with Veritherm and Elmhurst, Build Test Solutions use their expertise in measured domestic energy use to determine an accurate heat loss of a property, which can then be used for accurate heat pump sizing.
Griff Thomas: Heatly
Using just your phone camera and the Heatly app, this tool will allow a homeowner to conduct a building survey themselves and receive a complete heat pump design. Supporting both installers and homeowners.
The views expressed in this podcast are those of the participants and do not represent the views of the Government or the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
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.
Low temp heating design along with heat pumps is todays discussion at the HQ of Grant who are well known in the industry.
Grant is essentially an off-grid company known in the heating sector for their oil boilers, heat pumps and Nathan’s favourite: Solar Heat or also known as Solar Thermal.
Nathan gets to chat with Grant’s training manager Phil, and two of his favourite engineers Paul and Steve.
You will hear the following topics:
Low Temp system design and weather compensation
Grant’s history
Transition of oil installers to low carbon technologies
Heating system monitoring
The importance of commissioning.
We will also hear Paul’s story of how he convinced a developer to use heat pumps on their property rather than gas boilers and also how he uses analogy to help explain such systems to customers.
We hear Grant explain the importance of heat loss design and radiator sizing and Steve’s conversation about architects highlights whether there needs to be more consideration at the house planning stage for such an important aspect of the home.
Enjoy and please leave a review to help others find these podcasts. Thank you
Kensa Ground Source Heat Pumps are the topic of this weeks betatalk podcast. Nathan took along some of his usual guest engineers to Kensa's HQ to have a chat about heat pumps, training and their "shoebox" design for district and community heating systems.
Topics discussed are:
Geology of the UK
Drilling bore holes for heat pumps
Calculating the ground array for ground source heat pumps
Meet Emma, Sue, Alan, Lee and Andrew members of a team based in Sheffield and Perth Scotland who specialise in heat pump installations. With over a 100 years of combined experience Nathan enjoyed his visit to chat with the team.
Nathan and Emma chat regularly on Social Media and her passion about standards and design within this sector really shows through. Listen till the end where you'll hr Emma make some fantastic points.
Alan installed his first heat pump back in 1996 and he talks about design of the system and how it is vital for efficiency and performance. A theme which betatalk inculcates.
Hear Sue and her fascinating insight into the development and evolvement of MCS.
In this episode Nathan travelled to meet Rebecca from Building People and Abi Burns and Leah Robson from Your Energy Your Way. The discussion considered inclusion and diversity within the renewable and construction sector.
Abi comes from a research background and is now training with Your Energy Your Way so we touched on training within the renewable sector.
Leah does a grand job of describing a sunamp heat storage unit to Rebecca and how they work with a phase change material PCM.
You can hear also how Leah entered the industry having previously come from an IT background and her passion for installing heat pump and solar technology.
Your Energy Your Way is an MCS [Microgeneration Certification Scheme] certified company and you can find more about them here https://www.yourenergyyourway.co.uk/
Building People, much like Your Energy Your Way have a focus on training and diversity. They are a social enterprise and have three founding partners: Chartered Surveyors Training Trust, The Chartered Surveyors' Company and University College of Estate Management and you can find them here https://www.buildingpeople.org.uk/
Carbon capture storage, gas networks, Future Homes Standard it's all discussed in part 2 of Ken Bone and Nathan's trip to Cornwall to meet with Richard Lowes. In this episode we are also joined by Sovay Berriman who discusses her transition into the heating world from art and higher education.
At the beginning of the episode you will hear Richard talk about the ways engineers can help shape policy. It's not easy but he gives examples. He also mentions a study which was carried out by Faye Wade at Edinburgh university which sounds extremely interesting.
Richard is part of the energy policy group at Exeter and he has become a valuable part of the heating community.
Both Nathan and Sovay have PGCE qualifications and they discuss the lack of evidenced based learning within the heating training sector
Energy and sustainable policy is the topic of this episode. Nathan travels to meet with Richard Lowes, a wonderful gentleman well known in area of heat policy within the UK. Richard has worked on policy regarding the future of the gas grid and started a PhD in 2014 which looked at the development of policy within the heating industry: how it started and how different interests lobby. A main question being asked by academics is: " do industries in the market help drive change or hinder it?"
Not only was it interesting to discuss Policy with Richard we also Ken Bone and I also discussed his new heat pump install, which is a NIBE air source installed under the Nu - Heat umbrella MCS scheme. Richard is Cleary happy with it but discusses with us how he felt "to many cooks can spoil the broth" You can listen to discover what he means.
You can also hear Ken discuss weather compensation curves and low temperature heating.
There's also discussion about the risks manufactures pose to industry.
Bristol heating engineers Ben, Simon and Craig chat with Nathan about renewables and the gas heating industry. They discuss the importance of heating system design and how it is vital to obtain efficiency.
In this episode you will hear about the types of renewable heating these engineers have worked with and how social housing would benefit from renewables and boilers set up efficiently.
Once again Nathan speaks to Brandon and Richard for this podcast on heatpumps. This time we have Brandon's nephew with us who is an apprentice. So a little training theme within this episode. Accountability is a main theme e.g. what happens if heat pumps are installed incorrectly. Other topics include:
Data Efficiency IoT and its use within the heating industry Competence Heat Pump System Design
Please enjoy and if you have any questions about heat pumps or want to reach out to any of the engineers Nathan uses in these episodes you can contact him at learn@betateach.co.uk
Solar Thermal (Solarheat) heating is very misunderstood. It is not only clean it is free and maybe this is why it's not in many of the discourses around decarbonisation.
While there are many concerned individuals and organisations engendering discussions around decarbonisation a lot of the time they are misinformed.
Take a listen to engineers who work at the coal face of renewable heating technology, it is they who install, maintain and know these systems so well.
They don't have an agenda, e.g. they are not trying to sell energy they are trying to solve the problems we face and create efficiency.
This episode has the following topics:
Solar thermal systems which work in winter Buffers, accumulators and thermal stores Low temperature heating systems How to reduce energy bills Evacuated solar thermal tubes Are European countries beating the UK regarding this renewable technology? Should housing developers look at renewable energy more closely?
You will hear how Brandon knows someone who produces so much solarheat they sell it to the next door neighbour - as the heat moves through the wall
In this episode Nathan introduces MCS who will sponsor this season's episodes. They will all have a renewable heat theme and in this first episode Nathan discusses with his guests different types of renewable technology.
Ken and Brandon have been on the show before and they and Nathan get to meet controls expert Richard who is a wonderful gentleman based in Mid Wales.
Topics include: Smart Controls and Weather Compensation Heat Calculations The future of heat pumps Open Therm Cost of heat pumps Biomass Solar Thermal Batteries
Disclaimer: This episode is a conversation between engineers who have fun as well as discuss serious topics. No language or figurative speech is to be taken literally
All have some experience with heat pumps and the episode is to give listeners a general idea of what they are and how they work. More episodes will be coming soon.
Nathan, who is a speaker and workshop host at https://lowcarbonhomes.uk engages often with the Heat Pump Association and the Ground Source Heat Pump Association who also are actively involved with Low Carbon Homes.
Heat Pumps are an exciting technology but as Nathan inculcates: it does not matter how efficient a heat source is (whether it is a methane, hydrogen or oil boiler - or even a heat pump) the heating system has to be efficient - otherwise there is no efficiency. Unfortunately in the UK many systems are not efficient and experience corrosion problems as well as incorrectly sized pipework.
Nathan recently spoke about the poor state of our heating systems at the Low Carbon Homes event in Manchester where the local authority have written into law their net zero target of 2038.
One of the topics discussed is how training within the heating industry could be better. Nathan is one of the leading experts in the UK heating industry reguarding andragogy - adult learning - and as he inculcates the training is currently inadequate.
A lot of training modules are summative assessment only with no formative assessment provision. Nathan works closely with industry and manufactures to help them develop better methods and calls it the BetaTeach method. Simply put Nathan hopes to inspire manufactures to place quality training as their number one PR/marketing device.
It's envisaged that manufactures will compete to provide the best training provision and resources. This perpetual system can then start to produce better engineers who are able to constantly learn - in turn, benefiting customers and the environment
Diploma Plumbing Students make up the majority of students on plumbing courses. Contrary to popular belief, not all school leavers go onto uni to for A levels. Hundreds of thousands enrol each year onto college construction and building services course. Most will never enter industry as the apprenticeship opportunities simple are not out there for these young people, or even the mature students who undertake the diploma course.
Here, Nathan visits Guilford College to chat to George, Nicole and Jack and discuss how they are getting on at the start of their Level 2 BPEC plumbing Course.
Heating system design is back in vogue (it never should have gone out of fashion as it's extremely vital). Here, Nathan travels to Northampton to visit Kim where he trains heating engineers in system design.
It should always be noted that the heat source whether it's a boiler or heat pump requires an efficient heating system otherwise there is no real efficiency. IMI Hydronic Engineering, Heat-Engineer.com and The Heating Academy understand how important heating system design is and are doing there best along with BetaTeach to get that message out.
In this episode you'll hear Kim explain how his time in the army training people to operate a new complex weapons system was perhaps when he first realised the rewarding aspects of teaching people.
Topics covered are: Low Loss Headers (LLH) Close Couple Tees (CCT) Heating System Design
In this conversation Nathan chats to Luke, Scott and Alex and discusses how they got into industry. They had all just attended the IMI Hydronic training so we get to listen to their views on what they just learned.
IMI Hydronic training was taking place at the Guilford gas centre being set up by Tony Rees. It gave me the opportunity to speak with some of the plumbing and heating apprentices and diploma students who attend the college there. This is a 3 parter as I was able to talk to ten students in total. Here are the first three. Fantastic episode this. Learn what our next generation get up to.
Gas Safety Week raises awareness within the heating industry and Nathan has been joined by Paul Hull from the Gas Safety Super Heroes and Rob Howard from Gas Safe to discuss the various topics surrounding gas safety.
Topics Discussed
What happens on your first gas safe inspection
Personal CO alarms
Training issues, problems and ACS
Could manufactures play a larger role in gas safety
In part one of this late night discussion Brandon, Steve and Dyfed chat about some of the practical misconceptions surrounding heat pumps, rural oil heating and MCS paperwork.
There is also talk about:
How they all entered industry: Steve from the army, Brandon from boat building and Dyfed who nearly followed his father's footsteps - a highly regarded lead work specialist who's installed the lead roof systems on some of the UK's famous cathedrals
How they learn and continue to learn their craft
How photo voltaic (PV) Solar Panels and grant systems such as RHI have prevented the uptake of Solar Thermal (solarheat) which is vital for heating water cleanly
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.
Revision podcasts for construction, plumbing and electrical students with employability tips. Great for flip learning and evidencing differentiation.
Discusses how the CDM regulations are specific to the construction industry and help reduce accidents on site. Talks also about PPE and who is responsible for providing it.
Revision podcasts for construction, plumbing and electrical students with employability tips. Great for flip learning and evidencing differentiation.
Discusses the Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR) and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
A passionate discussion about the plumbing and heating industry with Faros from Octillian Training, Tony Rees who is ex British Gas ex ATAG and an experienced FE tutor and Rob from http://www.plumbingandheatingwestsussex.co.uk
Topics Discussed:
Are manufacturers doing enough regarding training and should they be looking after engineers more?
Thermal Imaging
The launch of Navien in the UK
IMI TRVs
Corrosion
Gas Training Portfolios
Heating Engineers are undervalued
Should manufacturers market themselves with purpose rather than product
Sterling Gas Centre in Corby https://www.sterling4gas.co.uk is a favourite centre of Nathans and I believe a highly regarded gas training centre by UKAS. It has been running since 1998 and saw the transition from ACOPs to ACS. They were the 5th accredited gas centre in the country so they have plenty of experience. The guys here don't just tick boxes...they get it right.
They are supported by well known names in the industry such as Rothenberger, Fair, Testo, Anton, Intergas and Adey. In fact, they are an ADEY best practice centre and also have Intergas training days.
Evacuated Solar Thermal Tubes trap infrared heat energy during the daytime whether it's cloudy or not. Ironically, despite this being a similar process to how CO2 traps infrared (the Green House Effect) this renewable technology for heating water (the most energy intensive common substance to heat up in the universe with a SHC of 4.186) is under utilised in the UK.
This FREE heat is perhaps not liked by the energy industry who profit from fuel (gas, oil and hydrogen) and electric (e.g. PV photovoltaic solar panels and heat pumps)
Solar Thermal is an off-grid technology which can provide FREE hot water and heat. Evacuated tubes which were developed in a joint venture by Australian and Chinese universities are more efficient than flat plate and combined with a Thermal Store can contribute to the heating of a home. In this episode Nathan Gambling (BetaTeach) chats to renewable experts Brandon from BTSE Heating https://btseheating.com and Steve Calvert from S.Calvert Plumbing and Heating https://www.scalvertplumbingandheating.co.uk about the advantages of solar thermal hot water and heating systems.
Topics discussed are:
Frost protection - you don't always need expensive and problematic Glycol
Are manufacturer’s warranties and incentive schemes stifling this free technology?
Evacuated tubes are more efficient and practical than flat plate solar collectors
Free solar thermal energy
Thermal stores - unvented and open vented
Cylinders do not produce as much hot water as stores
Why isn't industry (e.g. trade bodies and organisations) discussing this FREE technology
Ireland uses Solar Thermal
Worcester Bosch evacuated tubes are no longer available
What is PVT (PVThermal) and Erick Hawkins retrofit system
Gas Safe Registered Engineers Andy (AKA Gas Man God gasmangod.com) & Lee Fischer (Green Albion Ltd greenalbion.com) joined Nathan at Ian Forbes home for a chat about various aspects of the plumbing and heating industry they all know so well. Ian had a painter spraying the hall way at the time so please excuse the noise. And Nathan apologises as he does swear when he thinks something went wrong. The following topics are discussed:
Social Media has brought plumbers and heating engineers together to share knowledge
Apprenticeships and fast track plumbing courses
Performance testing on buildings
Is the EPC relevant?
Boiler makes and models
Shiny pipes
ACS multichoice assessment
Could manufacturers play more of a role in training apprentices
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
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.
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
Emma Bohan from IMS Heating came up with the idea for surveying heat pump installation companies big and small. She brought me on board with the project and I had Nesta help with the construction of the survey and its analysis.
The podcast episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Installer Show 2024 with some audience questions at the end.
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...
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
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.
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
*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.
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.
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