More product innovations coming down the pipeline

Much of Continental Europe has ventured further down the renewables road than the UK, but Kentbased heating manufacturer Alpha, thanks to its Italian parent company Immergas, has access to some advanced renewable technologies designed to suit environmentally conscious lifestyles. The company’s MD Andrea Carmeli explores some of the innovations likely to be available to UK installers in the near future.

Today, around 50% of all energy consumed in the EU is used for heating and cooling (70% of which still derives from fossil fuels) and approximately 80% of its domestic energy consumption fuels space and water heating. EU policies are in place to deliver secure, sustainable and affordable energy for all – and legislation by the European Commission has driven cuttingedge research and innovations with the aim of preserving Europe’s natural environment.

Tackling global warming and the continuing energy crisis head on, the EU has ambitious plans to become not only a climateresilient society, but also the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. And while the UK has its own creditable targets, it is proving slower to adopt some of the necessary changes – whether in technology, infrastructure or even lifestyle – which are needed for green growth.

In some ways, many countries on the Continent have had a head start on the renewables road. Take heat pumps for example. The EU’s ‘REPowerEU’ plan has set out to install at 20 million of them by 2027. For UK homeowners, installing renewable appliances has proved a challenge – whether logistically or technically.

Citizens of Europe’s warmer nations, however, are well-accustomed to this concept thanks to necessary airconditioning units long attached to their home’s façade.

In my home country of Italy, heat pumps are widely used, hydrogen testing is developing at pace and the Italian government in 2020 offered to pay back each homeowner 110% of building costs to convert their existing home into an ecofriendly residence.

Tried and tested

In short, there is much that Britain can learn from tried and tested tactics and tech deployed on the Continent. This is where Alpha as a heating manufacturer in the UK sets itself apart. Our product innovation derives from our family-run parent company, Immergas. Established in Italy and operating in 30 countries worldwide, the group is strongly geared to playing a vital role in shaping the future of climate control technologies.

The Immergas HQ covers an area almost the size of Windsor Castle and houses some of the most advanced manufacturing, research and development facilities in the world. Throughout its 60 years, the company has been at the forefront of cutting edge innovation across a range of

HVAC products including heat pumps, hybrid systems, fan coil units, thermal solar systems, pellet/biomass boilers and traditional/condensing boilers.

Growing ecological awareness has stimulated Immergas to further improve the performance of its products by designing innovative solutions for every type of living context. One Immergas initiative has been HyPOWERED, a research project co-funded by the EU and contributed to by the University of Pisa’s department of civil and industrial engineering and industrial research lab MISTER Smart Innovation.

Hydrogen ready

Kickstarted in 2020, Immergas invested millions of Euros into this project – the goal being to produce new models of lowpolluting domestic condensing boilers for hydrogen-methane gas mixtures. As a result, all of our traditional boilers brought to the UK market since 2022 have been hydrogen-ready, running on natural gas in the usual way until a hydrogen mix is rolled out.

Being part of the Immergas family has given us direct access to the insights and outcomes of countless research projects, partnerships and investments such as these mentioned here. With almost 60 years of innovation at our disposal, we have been able to indulge our passion in product innovation and we are extremely proud to have earlier this year launched the UK’s first packaged hybrid heat pump solution – the E-Tec Hybrid – for the domestic market.

Our confidence in this product stems from the depth of research used in its development, along with its success in the likes of Italy, Germany and the Netherlands where hybrid systems have been available on the market for over 10 years. Heat pump uptake in the UK has been slow. Those who have installed a heat pump have generally been those with more disposable income. What we need is to see more of the general population embracing renewable energy – however the investment is out of reach for many households; and, sadly, this is where the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme has fallen short.

For this reason, we have focused on looking at solutions not only for the future, but for right now. We are doing this by developing ever more efficient gas boilers, by training installers in renewables and by helping the UK ‘transition’ to clean energy. As we see it, factorymade hybrid systems are key in supporting that transition as they are designed for households that want to take advantage of both traditional and renewable energy sources.

Range of options

We all need to embrace zero carbon heating as soon as we possibly can – but we know the gas boiler will be part of UK homes for some years yet. With Immergas’ support, our mission is to promote renewable technologies and environmentally conscious lifestyles via a range of options to fit either the suitability of the property, or the appetite of the homeowner – whether through traditional boilers with enhanced efficiency ratings, hybrid solutions or full electric heat pumps.

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