Product category:
Building Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
News Release from: Emerson Climate Technologies | Subject: Heat pumps
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 November 2006
New compressor moves heat pumps forward
Until recently heat pumps have been seen as costly diversions from the business of providing reliable and inexpensive space heating and hot water - but this is changing.
Until recently heat pumps have been seen as costly diversions from the business of providing reliable and inexpensive space heating and hot water This is rapidly changing due to rising fuel prices and improved technology
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 16 Nov 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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It has long been known that a heat pump with a COP of 3 will deliver three times the quantity of heat than an electric heater.
With modern gas fired power generation a heat pump is also much more efficient than gas heating in terms of gas consumption.
Actual cost comparisons will depend on local tariffs but an electrically driven heat pump with a seasonal COP of 3 will be cheaper to run than a condensing gas boiler and as fuel prices rise so does the advantage.
Further reading
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For new buildings, underfloor heating can be installed, and this requires only modest water temperatures.
Under these conditions and with a ground source heat pump (GSHP) it is relatively easy to achieve COPs in excess of 4, and the technology is proven.
Ground source requires the expense of bore hole drilling or trenching for laying sufficient area with coils for the collector.
The DTI Clear Skies funding for encouraging installation GSHPs has been very popular, and nearly all the available funding has been distributed.
Heat pumps make use of renewable resources and it is likely that new incentives will be introduced.
Meanwhile heat pumps attract Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECAs).
Air is an excellent heat source for UK installations, and generally it is a much less expensive option.
One of the major difficulties has always been the ability to deliver heat at a high enough temperature for hot water services, particularly when an air source heat pump (ASHP) is required to operate in cold weather.
That is changed with the introduction of the vapour injected ZH scroll compressor model range.
This technology, developed by Copeland for high efficiency low temperature refrigeration has proved highly suitable for a new generation of heat pumps.
These compressors are available in a range, which can be used to provide heating outputs of 10 to 50kW.
The vapour injection not only boosts the efficiency of the traditional refrigeration cycle, resulting in a better COP at all conditions, but it results in much greater heating capacity at low outside temperatures.
At the same time the compressor runs cooler, so that it can operate at the extreme conditions required for hot water supplies all the year round.
More than 30,000 heat pumps are installed in Sweden each year.
These are mostly GSHPs due to the nature of the climate.
Most of these use Copeland scroll compressors and now with the vapour injected scroll able to provide for both heating and hot water GSHP and ASHP technology can now be a very attractive alternative to a conventional boiler.
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