Green technology is the way forward for Ebac

Nov 4 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

The pumps, which will be aimed at the domestic market, extract heat from the outside in the same way that a fridge extracts heat from inside and can get heat from the air even when the temperature is as low as -15° C.

Heat pumps heat water to a lower temperature than a standard boiler system would, so they are more suitable for underfloor heating systems than traditional radiators.

The firm conducted significant development work on the pumps as far back as the late 1980s, but the relatively low costs of traditional fossil fuels made the project unattractive at the time.

It has already spent £100,000 into the development of the pumps this year and expects to invest significantly more than this when it comes to the production and marketing stage.

Ebac chairman John Elliott said: “It had to be expected that manufacturers of domestic products like ours would be affected by the recession, and this has indeed been the case.

“Furthermore, our plans were to develop our present site into a supermarket and move to a better facility equipped to improve and extend our manufacturing capability.

“The breakdown of these talks has meant that we have had to put our plans on hold which has led to us having to lose some of our workers.

“However, we are determined to secure our future through the development of air-to-water heat pumps.”

The firm employs around a further 100 people servicing its products across Europe with offices in Germany and France.

“Our existing factory is over 50 years old and it is not ideal for what we do,” said Mr Elliott. “However, we have made the cuts and now believe we are developing a product that will help support the business in the years to come and one that could help us realise our ambitions to move into improved premises.”