Heat pump network

A distributed heating network comprising a plurality of individual heat pumps, each heat pump individually coupled to a common heat source of the network, the common heat source of the network comprising a liquid loop within the network, the liquid of the loop being maintained at close to ambient temperature through active heat management of the common heat source, each heat pump being arranged to independently provide or extract heat from the common heat source, the network further comprising heat sinks which can be used to divert excess heat from the common heat source, and wherein the common heat source is further coupled to at least one energy source, the at least one energy source being thermally decoupled from the plurality of individual heat pumps and wherein the network further comprises a controller configured to measure the temperature of the common heat source and arranged to deliver energy to the common heat source to raise the temperature within that loop or to extract heat from the loop using the heat sinks to maintain the temperature of the loop of the common heat source within a predetermined range which is independent of energy provided by the at least one energy source.

The network of claim 41 wherein the at least one energy source comprises at least one non-electrical heat source.

The network of claim 41 wherein at least one of the individual heat pumps is coupled to a dedicated tank of domestic hot water such that heat from that heat pump is used to provide a heating of water within that dedicated tank.

The network of claim 41 wherein at least one of the individual heat pumps is coupled to a dedicated heating/cooling circuit to provide localised heating or cooling from that heat pump.

The network of claim 41 wherein each of the heat pumps are operable in a plurality of modes.

The network of claim 41 wherein the heat pumps are reversible heat pumps.

The network of claim 41 wherein the heat pump is configured to provide localised cooling.

The network of claim 41 wherein excess heat from one heat pump is operably diverted back into the common heat source to be used as a source of heat for another different heat pump.

The network of claim 41 wherein the at least one energy source comprises one or more heat source components selected from a ground source array, gas or oil boilers, CHP plants, biomass boilers, air source heat pumps or the like which are coupled to the common heat source.

The network of claim 41 configured to be coupled to a wide area district heat network.

The network of claim 41 comprising a variable output heat pump.