<
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/07/the-hunt-for-the-most-efficient-heat-pump-in-the-world/>
"Outside a 100-year-old house on the edge of the Peak District in northern
England, a heat pump’s fan blades are swiftly spinning. They’re drawing outdoor
air over coils of refrigerant, harvesting warmth from that air. All air-source
heat pumps do this—and they can glean heat even on cold days. But this heat
pump is special. It is one of the most efficient installations of its kind in
the country.
“I’m number two on there,” fizzes owner Rob Ritchie, a retired chemistry
teacher, referring to the system’s position on HeatPumpMonitor.org, a kind of
online leaderboard for heat pumps around the UK and beyond. “I should say it
isn’t important—but it is. It’s nice being there.”
At the time of writing, real-time data suggests that for every kilowatt-hour of
electricity Ritchie’s heat pump consumes, it delivers 5.5 kilowatt-hours of
heat—a coefficient of performance, or COP, of 5.5. Achieving a COP of 5 or
above is “absolutely incredible,” says Emma-Louise Bennett, active transition
support lead at Viessmann, the company that made Ritchie’s heat pump. In the
UK, average heat pump COPs tend to be between 2 and 3.
For social-media-savvy plumbers and environmentally conscious home renovators
who are increasingly sharing videos of their heating systems online, heat pumps
are in vogue. In the race to decarbonize and curtail the devastating effects of
climate change, switching home heating systems away from fossil-fuel-burning
boilers and furnaces is essential. Heat pumps will be a key weapon in that
fight, says the International Energy Agency. It estimates that, globally, heat
pumps could reduce CO2 emissions by 500 million metric tons—equivalent to
taking every car in Europe off the road.
A new generation of heating engineers has realized that they can push heat
pumps to the limit. These installers are reaching astounding levels of
efficiency by taking extra care to design low-temperature heating systems that
warm rooms without using excess energy.
Heat pumps can offer multiple kilowatt-hours of heat per kilowatt-hour of
electricity, thanks to physics. The refrigerant sealed inside the device
evaporates readily when it is warmed even slightly, say by the outdoor air, and
a compressor then pressurizes the warmed gas, which has the effect of heating
it further. It only takes a little electricity to power this process, which can
raise the refrigerant’s temperature by many degrees Celsius."
Via Christoph S.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
