Star Refrigeration highlights maintenance as critical to long-term heat pump performance

Experience in the design, manufacture, installation, commissioning and maintenance of more than 100MW of large-scale heat pumps shows that monitoring and optimisation are essential to sustaining long-term energy performance.

GLASGOW, Scotland, April 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Drawing on nearly two decades of experience with industrial heat pumps, and thirty years before this in industrial refrigeration Star Refrigeration emphasises that the long-term success of these systems depends as much on how they are maintained as on how they are designed and installed.

Yet the operational phase is often overlooked, despite being critical to sustaining expected energy savings and carbon reductions.

Recent research carried out by the company highlights the scale of this issue. A survey of UK manufacturers found that many organisations lack a clear understanding of how much heat they use or how efficiently their heating systems operate.

The study also revealed that heating systems were operating at an average utilisation rate of just 24%, suggesting that many sites have significantly oversized infrastructure running inefficiently.

Over the past 17 years, Star Refrigeration has designed, installed and maintained more than 100MW of industrial heat pump capacity across the UK and Europe, supporting applications ranging from district heating networks to manufacturing, agriculture and food processing. This operational experience builds on the foundation of StarCare, a maintenance and optimisation programme that combines preventative engineering, performance monitoring and data-led system analysis to protect the efficiency, reliability and long-term value of refrigeration and heat pump assets.

Industrial heat pumps are typically designed to operate for 20 to 30 years or more, often in demanding environments where systems run continuously. Over time, factors such as changing operating conditions, component wear and control drift can gradually reduce efficiency. If left unmanaged, these issues can increase energy consumption, shorten equipment life and erode expected carbon savings. At an even more basic level, poor cleaning regimes can increase running costs by over 30%.

StarCare addresses these challenges by combining condition-based maintenance with continuous performance monitoring and optimisation. The programme enables engineers to detect early signs of performance degradation, optimise system operation and plan maintenance works before failures occur.

Valgard Bertschinger, Business Development Manager - Operations Support, said, "Large-scale heat pumps should be viewed as long-term infrastructure rather than one-off engineering projects."

"Designing and installing a heat pump is only the first step. The real value lies in ensuring that the system continues to operate efficiently and reliably throughout its lifetime. Through predictive monitoring, condition-based maintenance, energy optimisation and asset management, we are helping businesses and district heating operators control costs and protect their investment."

StarCare currently supports several large-scale heat pump installations across the UK. In Clydebank, the company maintains the 5.2 MW Queens Quay Energy Centre heat pumps, the UK's largest river-source heat pump installation. Drawing energy from the River Clyde to supply heat to nearby homes and businesses, the system benefits from a multi-layered maintenance programme that combines operational checks, oil analysis and advanced remote performance monitoring via Ethos, Star's performance optimisation technology. This approach has maximised uptime and extended plant life while helping West Dunbartonshire Council meet its environmental and financial objectives.

Star's experience also extends to agriculture and food manufacturing. At a 33-megawatt greenhouse facility in East Anglia, four ammonia heat pumps operate in parallel to provide sustainable heating for large-scale crop cultivation. Regular vibration analysis, thermal imaging and oil sampling have helped prevent deterioration and reduce operating costs while ensuring accurate system control and compliance.

In the food and beverage sector, Star maintains combined heating and cooling systems that use recovered heat from refrigeration for boiler pre-heating and cleaning processes. Supported by remote monitoring, predictive analytics and Star onsite engineers, these systems have delivered significant energy savings while maintaining long-term operational compliance.

StarCare heat pump maintenance services are delivered nationwide through one of the UK's largest dedicated industrial refrigeration and heating branch networks, with eleven locations and more than 130 specialist refrigeration and heat pump field engineers, supported by the wider engineering capabilities of the Star group of companies. This approach can be applied to any manufacturer's heat pump.

With demand for large-scale heat pumps continuing to grow as part of the UK's decarbonisation strategy, maintaining system efficiency and reliability over decades will be essential for operators seeking to achieve both environmental and economic benefits.

All Star's 140 field engineers are certified for ammonia and benefit from a training structure that delivers unrivalled expertise in the maintenance of heat pump systems. To learn more about Star Refrigeration's industrial heat pump maintenance services, visit
https://www.star-ref.co.uk/starcare-maintenance-2/

SOURCE Star Refrigeration