heat pump

The mass adoption of geothermal heat pumps could decarbonize buildings and reduce grid transmission needs, according to a report by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Scientists have utilized two blower fans with two roll-bonded bare plates to create a heat pump that can operate in variety of ambient temperature and solar radiation conditions. The system has an average daily coefficient of performance of 3.24.

The European Parliament and European Council yesterday provisionally agreed to phase out fossil-fuel boilers in the next two decades, among a raft of other infrastructure recommendations aiming to boost infrastructure energy efficiency. Europe’s peak body for heat pumps, the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), welcomes the news.

From using heat pumps in decommissioned power plants, to utilizing them for storage and carbon capture – scientists from China have listed the ways in which heat pumps can help the global energy transition move forward. They showed that their potential is beyond heat electrification.

Italian manufacturer Thermocold is offering new heat pumps with output ranging from 8 kW to 30 kW. They use propane as the refrigerant and reportedly have a seasonal coefficient of performance of up to 4.5.

UK-based researchers have developed a novel method to estimate the amount of defrost cycles a heat pump will experience in the winter and how much energy it would require to implement the cycles. The results of their simulation showed a strong relationship between the number of defrost cycles and the ambient temperature.

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says the latest round for its Boiler Upgrade Scheme – an initiative awarding GBP 7,500 ($9,500) to families in England and Wales to replace traditional boilers for heat pumps – “surged” with a threefold increase in applications.

Daikin has released a line of residential air-to-air heat pumps, using difluoromethane (R32) as the refrigerant, with outdoor unit dimensions of 662 mm x 442 mm x 1022 mm. The output ranges from 2.5 kW to 3.5 kW, and the seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) is between 4.85 and 5.17.

The new product utlizes propane refrigerant with a lower global warming potential and has a seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) of over 5. According to the manufacturer, it can achieve a flow temperature of 75 C and 100% heating output at outside temperatures of -15 C.

German researchers measured a PV-powered heat pump with battery storage in a single-family home in Freiburg, Germany, for a period of a year. It features smart grid-ready tech that adjusts operations based on the grid.