Heat pump
Our time is marked by rising energy costs and increasing environmental pollution. Under these conditions it is essential to have an eye for low heating costs as well as the conservation of our limited natural resources. With a heat pump you have chosen a system that stands for cost-conscious and environmently friendly heating. With its highly developed technology, it creates the seeming impossible – With only 25 % of supplied energy it generates 100 % heat output. A heat pump is a device that moves heat from one location (the source) at a lower temperature to another location (the heat sink) at a higher temperature using a minimum of mechanical work. It can be used to provide heating or cooling. Even though the heat pump can heat, it still uses the same basic refrigeration cycle to do this. In other words a heat pump can change which coil is the condenser and which the evaporator. This is normally achieved by a reversing valve. In cooler climates it is common to have heat pumps that are designed only to provide heating. Common examples are food refrigerators and freezers, air conditioners, and reversible-cycle heat pumps for providing building space heating. In heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) applications, a heat pump normally refers to a vapor-compression refrigeration device that includes a reversing valve and optimized heat exchangers so that the direction of heat flow may be reversed. Most commonly, heat pumps draw heat from the air or from the ground, but in South Spain, for example, we use air heat pumps, because the air contains, also during the winter period, enough energy for the purpose to heat your home or your pool. Air source heat pumps are relatively easy (and inexpensive) to install and have therefore historically been the most widely used heat pump type. The average COP over seasonal variation is typically 2.5-2.8. One common type of heat pump works by exploiting the physical properties of an evaporating and condensing fluid known as a refrigerant.. A simple stylized diagram of a heat pump’s vapor-compression refrigeration cycle: 1) condenser, 2) expansion valve, 3) evaporator, 4) compressor. The working fluid, in its gaseous state, is pressurized and circulated through the system by a compressor. On the discharge side of the compressor, the now hot and highly pressurized vapor is cooled in a heat exchanger, called a condenser, until it condenses into a high pressure, moderate temperature liquid. The condensed refrigerant then passes through a pressure-lowering device also called a metering device like an expansion valve, capillary tube, or possibly a work-extracting device such as a turbine. The low pressure, liquid refrigerant leaving the expansion device enters another heat exchanger, the evaporator, in which the fluid absorbs heat and boils. The refrigerant then returns to the compressor and the cycle is repeated.
An efficient technology
Heat pumps offer the most energy-efficient way to provide heating and cooling in many applications, as they can use renewable heat sources in our surroundings. Even at temperatures we consider to be cold, air, ground and water contain useful heat that’s continuously replenished by the sun. By applying a little more energy, a heat pump can raise the temperature of this heat energy to the level needed. Similarly, heat pumps can also use waste heat sources, such as from industrial processes, cooling equipment or ventilation air extracted from buildings. A typical electrical heat pump will just need 100 kWh of power to turn 200 kWh of freely available environmental or waste heat into 300 kWh of useful heat. The total CO2 reduction potential of 1.2 billion tonnes is about 6% of the global emissions! This is one of the largest that a single technology can offer, and this technology is already available in the marketplace. And with higher efficiencies in power plants as well as for the heat pump itself, the future global emissions saving potential is even 16%.
Comfort with concept
- The modern house technique ensures maximum comfort, with maximum energy savings and extremely low operating costs that occurs indispensably when operating other heating systems. At the same time, the environment does not suffer pollution.
- Well-being, quality of life and health are priceless qualities. With heat pump systems, you create your ideal living environment for sure.
Theory of the heat pump:
- The heat pump converts heat from a low to a high temperature – Even in winter, far below 0 °C.
- It absorbs air of the ambient with surprisingly low electrical effort. Here, in the South of Spain, the air contains all year round the best energy in terms of stored solar heat and releases it plus the operating power in the form of heat to the heating and hot water system.
It´s also possible to heat
With your air heat pump you can heat in winter and cool in the summer as needed. The air-cooling heat pump uses silent cooling by means of the existing heat distribution system. Therefore, your wellbeing is for sure: There are no draft phenomena any more, no headaches, tensions and rheumatisms. The operation via surface elements is silent as well, to the contrary to traditional air conditioners.
Your expert for heat pumps
Only a competent specialist is supposed to recondition heat pumps, where high technical requirements are demanded – The old heating system must be properly analyzed and converted for a heat pump. Moreover, the optimal heat source is to be determined for the heat pump. Each heater has its individual characteristics and must be adapted to the needs of residents and the situation of the building and its surrounding area.
Questions and answers regarding heat pumps
- What is the maximum temperature that the hot water can reach when using a heat pump?
For energy saving reasons, a maximum temperature of just above 50 ° C is recommended.
- What is the domestic hot water demand per head in a domestic home?
The average consumption is 50 litres of water per person per day.
- What kind of heat distribution system can I operate with heat pumps?
For reasons of comfort, in new building most often panel heatings (wall heatings, underfloor heatings etc.)are installed . The heat pump is perfect when using low-temperature heating systems. However, you can also use radiators, that are laid out for working with low temperature heating. In old buildings you often keep on using the existent radiators.
- Is a solar system more advantageous in order to heat up my domestic water?
Not at all. Solar water heaters are much higher in purchase and operating costs than a domestic water heat pump. Solar systems generally require at least as much electrical energy than a heat pump. You have to use an auxiliary heater in winter and on cloudy days when using solar water heaters. The multifunction devices from Dimplex provide in addition free additional advantages such as ventilation, basement drying or cooling of storage rooms. Can you expand a heat pump into an existing installation? Yes, in most of the cases this is possible. Nevertheless, it presupposes the skilled checking of the existing heating system. Most adequate for this is the heat source air that is usable anywhere.
- I´ve got a domestic hot water tank, can I recondition it with a heat pump?
Yes, hot water heat pumps are acceptable for the backfitting for the domestic water heating of existing tanks.
- Which costs can be reduced when heating with heat pumps?
By heating with heat pumps you´ll get much cheaper heating costs than with conventional heating methods. That is to say that normally you will save approximately 50 % when using low-temperature heating systems in kind of radiators, and even 75 % in the case of panel heatings (wall heatings, underfloor heatings etc.)
- Can I also cool with my heat pump? Yes, you can!
The cooling thereby is effected either via the heating system with the heat pump (inverse operation heating/cooling) or via a multifunctional device (climate effect).
