Heat Pumps

 Do they work?

Building Lighting, heating and cooling are three of the main areas of energy use, so applications which offer more efficient ways of dealing with these challenges are of particular interest.

One technology which is benefiting from these market shifts is the heat pump. This technology is already well known in the air conditioning market, and has proved very efficient when used for cooling. However, in other countries, such as Sweden and Switzerland, heat pumps are also used for domestic heating and hot water.

The heat pump is a very flexible technology, with excellent energy efficiency and CO2 mitigation properties. The market is only just starting to tap into this potential. There is 57% less carbon emissions when comparing a gas boiler with a heat pump with an average COP of between 3.0 for ASHP -7.0 for GSHP.

The term ‘heat pump’ refers to a variety of products which all work on the same principle. Heat pumps are usually categorised by the type of heat source and heat dissipation method they use. What is common to all is that they provide a highly energy efficient method of heating space and hot water. Heat pumps can also provide cooling - an increasingly important feature as summer temperatures reach new highs, even in the UK.

Most heat pumps work on the same principle as a domestic refrigerator, using a vapour compression cycle. The main components in the heat pump are the compressor, the expansion valve and two heat exchangers an evaporator and a condenser.