What are Thermodynamic Panels?

Thermodynamic panels could give your home free hot water all year, night and day.

They look a lot like solar panels but rather than taking energy from the sun, they absorb heat from the air outside. This heat is then used to warm up the water in a hot water cylinder.

If you’ve had to rule out solar panels because your roof isn’t suitable, thermodynamic panels can be fitted in shady areas and onto walls.

What are thermodynamic panels?

Thermodynamic panels are a cross between solar thermal panels and an air source heat pump. They look like solar panels but work like a heat pump.

Installing thermodynamic panels for your home could give you free hot water all year. Yet they haven’t been able to gain as much momentum as heat pumps or solar thermal in terms of installations.

How do they work?

To absorb the heat, a refrigerant is circulated around the panel. As it warms up it then becomes a gas which then moves into a compressor where it’s heated up even more.

It then reaches the hot water cylinder where the hot gas moves through the heat exchanger to warm up the water.

If you don’t have a hot water cylinder in your home then thermodynamic panels aren’t for you.

Benefits of thermodynamic panels

Thermodynamic panels can benefit your home in a number of ways. And after reading them you may be surprised that more people don’t have them installed.

• Don’t need to be fitted in direct sunlight
• Can be fitted to the side of a home
• Continue to work when outdoor temperatures drop as far as -15C
• Don’t need to be replaced for as long as 20 years
• They need very little maintenance over the years
• As quiet as a fridge

Will I still need a boiler?

Thermodynamic panels can take much of the workload off your boiler. And you could potentially get all of your hot water with only thermodynamic panels.

However, it’s best to keep the boiler. That way, the boiler can fire into action if the panels aren’t meeting demand.