UK energy company Disenco has joined forces with British motorsport specialist Prodrive to bring its micro combined heat and power unit to the UK domestic market. The unit is more efficient than current domestic boilers and also generates electricity, which can be sold back to the National Grid when not being used.
According to Prodrive, the Disenco micro combined heat and power (mCHP) unit generates 15KW of heat and 3KW of electricity and is more than 90% efficient, converting 70% to 80% of the available energy in natural gas for central heating and 10% to 25% into electricity.
Prodrive commented that the mCHP’s efficiency could help to reduce an average UK home’s carbon emission levels by between two and six tonnes per year, while also saving up to 30% on household fuel bills.
Prodrive also revealed that it is currently estimated that mCHPs in homes and businesses could ultimately generate up to 20GW of the UK’s energy demands, which is equivalent to the UK’s existing nuclear capacity.
Prodrive said that the units are more efficient than producing energy through power stations and are also more flexible, as energy is generated at the point of demand in the home, rather than through power stations, where the overall efficiency can be just 45%.
The mCHP generates electricity by using what would normally be waste heat to drive a sterling engine. Prodrive said that it will use its experience of working with high-technology materials composites to develop a compact sterling engine for the mCHP.