Definition
Basic
A heat pump is an electrical device that extracts heat from one place and transfers it to another. The heat pump is not a new technology; it has been used in Canada and around the world for decades. Refrigerators and air conditioners are both common examples of this technology.
History
Origin
Robert C. Webber built the first heat pump in the late 1940s. He got the idea, when he accidentally burned his hand from touching the outlet pipes of the cooling system. The burning of his hand gave him ideas to build the heat pump.
According to MasterTherm this is how he created the heat pump: "He connected the outlet piping from a freezer to a hot water heater and, since the freezer was producing constant excess heat, he hooked up the heated water to a piping loop." Then Webber used a small fan to propel the warm air in the building. After he saw that his invention was successful, he built a full size heat pump to provide heat for his entire home."
Popular Use
Webber decided to pump heat from the underground due to the fact that the temperature hardly fluctuated. This was how it was done: Copper tubing was placed in the ground and Freon gas ran through the tubing to gather the ground heat.
The gas was condensed in the cellar, gave off its heat and forced the expanded gas to go through the ground coil to pick up another load." A year later he sold his invention. in 1982, William Thomson, developed the heat pump. His key theoretical proves was that heat could flow downhill (from hot to cold). The heat pumps were used in buildings for cooling, air conditioners, chillers and refrigerators.
Money Involved
Growth
The worldwide market for heat pumps is growing fast. European and national legislation that promotes renewable energy, coupled with regulation for energy-efficient buildings and financial incentives have continued to be the main driver of the heat pump growth.
The growth of the heat pump market comes at the backdrop of sluggish or negative growth of the market for conventional heating products such as boilers. The French heat pump market alone increased by 30% in 2007, with generous tax credits being the main driver. In 2007, the global heat pump market reached nearly 477,000 unit sales, with China accounting for 24.8% of the market volume, France, Sweden and Germany. Collectively, these five countries held an impressive 82% of the total global heat pump market by volume.
Turnover
The European heat pumps market was estimated at $4.35 billion in 2008, with an estimated 420,000 units sold that year. The market has witnessed considerable growth over the last few years, in part due to Europe wide and local legislative drivers and also due to the growing need for energy efficiency among consumers.
Use
Primary
A heat pump can be geothermal or air to air. Compression is one type of heat pump and it works through electricity. Absorption heat pumps are another type of pump and can use burnable resources or electricity to produce heat. The sources for heat pumps can be air or ground. Ground heat sources can draw heat from the ground and air heat sources use the outside air for heat.
Production
How It Works
Heat pumps transfer heat by circulating a substance called a refrigerant through a cycle of evaporation and condensation. A compressor pumps the refrigerant between two heat exchanger coils. In one coil, the refrigerant is evaporated at low pressure and absorbs heat from its surroundings. The refrigerant is then compressed en route to the other coil, where it condenses at high pressure.
At this point, it releases the heat it absorbed earlier in the cycle. Refrigerators and air conditioners are both examples of heat pumps operating only in the cooling mode.
The heat pump cycle is fully reversible, and heat pumps can provide year-round climate control for your home heating in winter and cooling and dehumidifying in summer. Since the ground and air outside always contain some heat, a heat pump can supply heat to a house even on cold winter days.
An air-source heat pump absorbs heat from the outdoor air in winter and rejects heat into outdoor air in summer. It is the most common type of heat pump found in Canadian homes at this time. However, ground-source (also called earth-energy, geothermal, geoexchange) heat pumps, which draw heat from the ground or ground water, are becoming more widely used, particularly in British Columbia, the Prairies and Central Canada.
Challenges
Problems with Heat Pumps
Not enough heat is being produced: For the heat pump to work correctly there needs to be adequate air flow. Check the filter for dirt, and also check all the room air intake registers to make sure they are open. If the filter is getting dirty, you will need to clean it more often.
Heat Pump Makes Unusual Noises: A heat pump generally is fairly quite. Excess noise, like rattling, can be caused by loose bolts, belts, or screws. This can be remedied by securing the belts or tightening screws, etc.
Loud banging and scraping noises on an indoor unit could be caused by a bad blower fan. This will require a professional to fix it. An outdoor unit could have ice on the fan. Either way, don't let this problem continue as it can lead to more expensive damage.
Ice on the heat pump coils: There are a few reasons why this heat pump problem would happen.
A heat pump keeps its outdoor coils at a low temperature. This can cause ice to form if there is enough air moisture outside. A heat pump goes into a defrost cycle in order to melt this ice. If this fails, the defrost cycle is probably failing.
Possibilities
Maintenance
Air source heat pumps (Air to Air) have few moving parts, which reduce maintenance requirements. However, the outdoor heat exchanger and fan should be kept free from leaves and debris, if not damage may occur. On the other hand, ground source heat pumps (Ground to Air) have no regular maintenance.
Cost
Both air and ground source heat pumps reduce fuel bills, due to their efficiency, the air source heat pump could have an efficiency of up to 330% and a ground source pump could reach 450%, compared with an efficient gas boiler of 90% obviously this is a big difference. When dealing with heat pumps, the efficiency is known as Coefficient of Performance (COP).
With ground source heat pumps there are no corrosion or degradation issues with the buried plastic pipes, consequently there will never be a need to replace the pipes due to degradation. CO2 emissions from heat pumps are considerably less than gas or oil fired heating systems and due to the low grade energy source utilised by heat pumps are considered a renewable energy source.
Versatility
Ground Source heat pumps benefit in that, due to the prolonged thermal retention qualities of the soil, they can provide both warming in the winter and reverse cooling in the summer.
Both Air source (Air to Air) and Ground Source Heat pumps can be used in conjunction with other renewable technology, particularly in achieving reduced U values and compliance with the PassivHaus standard.
Key Countries
Countries with Heat Pumps
Apart from Sweden and Switzerland, heat pumps are not quite established as an alternative heating technology. Although there has been double-digit growth in Germany, France, Austria, Ireland, and Czech Republic among others, sales in most other markets such the Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the UK are still marginal.
While the European market is largely oriented towards space heating, the provision of sanitary hot water is also becoming popular. More manufacturers from Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France (and now Italian boiler suppliers and Australian players) are increasingly selling this type of low output usually below 5kW, air to water heat pumps (exhaust air type) that can provide sanitary hot water.
Apart from electric heat pumps, gas engine heat pumps (GEHP) are mostly sold in the commercial market in Japan followed by South Korea. However, the technology is becoming available in Europe and sales are increasing. The markets with potential growth in Italy, Germany, UK and Spain.
Key Companies
Biggest Heat Pump Manufactures
Heat pumps have become extremely popular among people and manufactures across the globe. This is the major reason that many players have appeared in the industry, these days. Many heat pump manufactures are selling their products to the customers and yes making a lot of money.
Here is a list of some of the famous heat pump manufacturers across the world.
1. Carrier
2. York
3. Danfoss
4. Daikin
5. Goodman
6. Lennox
7. Trane
8. Bryant
9. Heil
10. Amana
11. Gibson
12. Rudd
13. Sanyo
14. Coleman
15. GE
Prospects
New Types of Heat Pumps
The Cold Climate heat pump is a new type of heat pump, which can operate in extreme low temperatures - even below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. This heat pump uses the minimum of energy to provide the wanted level of heating or cooling and adjusts itself. It is a green alternative, but is slowed by delayed funding for research.
The All-climate heat pump is another new type of heat pump, which can operate in degrees as cold as -30 degrees Fahrenheit. Moreover, it can increase its efficiency by over 60 percent of a standard heat pump. It works best in an environment designed for heating.
Sustainibility
UN Global Compact
There are two out of the five biggest companies that participate in the UN Global Compact: Danfoss and Daikin.
Miscellaneous
Other Kinds of Heat Pumps
There are other types of heat pumps. One is the mini-split heat pump, which connects an outdoor air-source unit to multiple indoor units. They are useful for retrofitting a home with a heat pump system because their locations outside and inside the home are flexible.
Another type is the reverse cycle chiller (RCC) heat pump. This heat pump heats and cools water and can operate below freezing temperatures.
Transition to Globalisation
Geothermal Heat Pump Manufacturing Activities, 2009
Geothermal Heat Pump Manufacturing Activities, 2009 Shipments of geothermal heat pumps decreased nearly 5 percent in 2009 to 115,442 units from a year ago (Table 4.1), while capacity shipped decreased by only 2 percent to 407,093 tons (Figure 4.1 and Table 4.2). This marked the first decrease in shipments experienced by the geothermal heat pump (GHP) industry since 2003.
Globalisation > Economy > Energy > Sources > Renewable
Transition to Political Tools
EU Renewable Energy Policy
EU Renewable Energy Policy European leaders signed up in March 2007 to a binding EU-wide target to source 20% of their energy needs from renewables such as biomass, hydro, wind and solar power by 2020.
Political tools > Regional > Europe > EU > Dom. Policies > Economy > Energy > Renewable
Transition to Political Actors
Renewable Energy Technologies for Rural Electrification - The Role of the Private Sector
This paper discusses the potential of renewable energy technology in rural areas and how the private sector could participate the electrification of rural areas with renewable energy technology. ARE is the Alliance for Rural Electrification.
Political Actors > Civil Society > NGOs > Energy
