Heat Metering
District Heating
District heating is a system whereby heat is generated in one central location and distributed throughout residential, commercial and industrial buildings, rather than each individual building having its own heat system and boiler.
These are widely used throughout Europe. Ninety-five percent of heating in Iceland originates from district heating, 60% in Denmark, 50% in Finland, 12% in Germany and only 1% in the UK.
In Denmark there are many schemes and the district heating system in Copenhagen is one of the world’s largest, supplying heat for a floor area of around 50 million square metres. The transmission system connects four CHP plants, four waste incinerators and more than 50 peak load boiler plants to more than 20 distribution companies with a total heat production of around 30,000TJ.
The benefits of combined heat and power (CHP) used in district heating are impressive and widely acknowledged. CHP’s high energy efficiency levels cut energy costs for UK businesses, increasing their competitive edge. Community Heating schemes using CHP take disadvantaged people out of fuel poverty, providing affordable warmth and cheaper electricity from a secure, local source, supporting sustainable community development. And CHP reduces carbon emissions substantially, playing a vital part in combating climate change.
Flowmeters are used to determine how much heat and gas each home and business is using and pumps are used to circulate the hot water.
