Description
Geothermal
heat pumps are one of the most versatile heating and cooling technologies
available, but there are two applications where they don't shine: producing hot
enough water for hot water baseboards and fully heating domestic hot water. Of
course they can preheat water for this purpose, but using a geothermal heat
pump as the sole provider of hot water baseboard heat or domestic hot water is
not feasible. So far, that's it.
To
overcome this limitation, we designed a heat pump that takes preheated liquid
and further raises its temperature to 160°F (71°C). We named it a high
temperature water-to-water heat pump. Let's see how it works and when it's most
useful.
What is
a high temperature water-to-water geothermal heat pump?
Unlike
our standard water-to-water heat pumps (which use ground loops or wells),
high-temperature water-to-water heat pumps use preheated incoming liquid as
their energy supply. The temperature of the incoming liquid must be between
50°F (10°C) and 122°F (50°C). Typically, this energy supply is a buffer tank
connected to the inside of a geothermal heat pump, or it can be a cooling
circuit in an industrial process.
High-temperature
water-to-water heat pumps take pre-heated liquid and use it to heat water up to
160°F (71°C). It does this by using R134a refrigerant which has a higher
temperature range than conventional R410a.
Application
of high temperature water to water heat pump
The most
common use for high temperature water to water is heating domestic hot water in
commercial buildings that already use geothermal heat pumps for space heating
and cooling. You can also use this heat pump for circulating heating in
situations where a typical geothermal heat pump cannot provide enough hot water
for adequate heating. Cases like this include hot water baseboards designed for
boiler hot water. Remember that you need to have a preheated source.
Application
of high temperature water to water heat pump
High
temperature water-to-water heat pumps have a coefficient of performance (COP)
between 2.5 and 6.5 depending on the source temperature. This heat pump has a
rated capacity of 2 to 7.5 tons. For larger applications, multiple units can be
used in parallel, making it ideal for large commercial applications.
Classification
LMH
series
This
high temperature heat pump can heat hot water baseboards or radiators from
inflow liquid temperatures of 50°F (10°C) to 122°F (50°C).
LMC
series
This
high temperature hot water heat pump is ideal for baseboard heating or domestic
hot water from a ground loop.
