When choosing an alternative to standard heating systems, it is advisable to know what a heat pump is? A similar design is actively used abroad; in Russia, such a configuration is a novelty. This is due to the high cost of equipment and its installation, as well as insufficient knowledge about all the intricacies and advantages of this device. For reference: more than 90% of houses in Norway and Sweden are heated by similar methods. Consider the features and characteristics of this design.
Description
What is a heat pump? This device is a pump that absorbs potentially low thermal energy from the environment, transmitting it to heat-supplying systems with elevated temperature. It is worth noting that most natural resources have energy reserves, including frost. Even in the harshest winter, a home can be heated by natural energy.
The modification of the devices under consideration depends on the type of source of energy received (earth, air, water). The most popular and practical device is considered to be a geothermal unit that transforms the energy of the soil. In addition, it is optimally suited for domestic climatic features. This is quite true for almost all regions of the Russian Federation.
Principle of operation
A geothermal heat pump for a home operates according to one of three principles:
- Through a special pipe in the well, groundwater is drawn to the surface. They have a certain temperature regime, passing through the exchanger, transfer the available heat, which heats the home. After this, the water returns in a natural way (with the flow).
- A tank with antifreeze is lowered into the hole of the well to a depth of 70-100 meters, the temperature of which differs from that of the surrounding soil. The soil heat pump accelerates the liquid and then feeds it to the heat exchanger. As a result of this process, heat is lost.
- In this embodiment, well drilling is not required. It should be noted that the house should be located near the reservoir. The working line is laid along the bottom of the pond, as a result of which water is pumped with further heat extraction from it. The nuance of this method is the sufficient depth of the reservoir, which will make it possible to extract energy under ice up to 15 cubic meters of available water.
The operation of the geothermal system, as well as other analogues, allows not only heating the residential sector, but also heating the garage, greenhouse, and other communications.
Advantages
What is a heat pump and what is it for is indicated above. Next, we will understand the advantages of this system.
- High efficiency. About 4-6 kilowatts of heat supply comes out from one kilowatt of the consumable (electricity). This is an order of magnitude larger than any traditional fuel boilers.
- The autonomy of the device lies in the fact that its functioning does not require organic material. This eliminates the problem of laying the appropriate communications.
- Universality. In one set, water, heat and cooling units are combined.
- High level of security. Unlike boilers that could potentially explode or catch fire, this design does not include elements that can cause a fire when heated. In addition, all parts are safe in terms of the ecological environment and thermal differences.
- The reliability of the unit is guaranteed by built-in automation, which the operator can service without special skills.
- Long working resource. The device serves from 30 to 50 years, which is significantly higher than the performance of standard heating systems.
Features
The operation of the heat pump is not only economical, but also practical. The following facts testify to this:
- minimum site for arrangement (the probe is located underground, which excludes its damage);
- the environment is not polluted, which meets all international standards;
- special permission for the installation of this equipment is not required, which greatly simplifies the process of paperwork at the entire construction stage;
- the design pays for itself in a couple of years.
Action and Maintenance
The operation of a heat pump for a home is identical to the functioning of a refrigerator familiar to everyone. The difference is that instead of cold, the unit generates heat. The active substance in this system is freon. It is a liquid gas that has a low boiling point. Evaporating, it takes away heat, returning it in the process of condensation. To ensure normal operation, the dimensions of the device should not exceed the dimensions of a standard automatic washing machine.
Heat pump - principle of operation along the internal circuit:
- the working system is in water or underground;
- the design scheme includes a collector exchanger and connecting pipelines with internal interaction with the supply of soil or water;
- the system includes communication devices configured for a common package;
- it is possible to control the system by controlling the process through a personal computer or tablet (smartphone).
- cooling unit is designed for central and local location of cooling systems;
- There is an additional pump unit responsible for floor heating.
Structural nuances
The heat pump system provides for the distribution of heat throughout the area evenly. Overheating zones are not observed, the maximum temperature of the coolant usually does not exceed 33 degrees. Statistics show that it is 2-3 percent lower in terms of savings compared to standard type radiators.
Structurally, this type of heating is divided into two varieties: bivalent and monovalent systems. Both configurations include a heat exchange manifold and radiators with tie tubes. Fittings with gaskets and taps are also connected to them.
Heating
Heating with a heat pump of a house in regions with a harsh climate is more relevant to produce using a bivalent design. Thanks to the second heat supply source, the range of supplied temperatures is expanding, which allows reaching an indicator of up to 20 degrees Celsius.
It is worth noting that the power during the installation of the heat pump is limited to 75-80 percent of the possible effect. Missing parameters are compensated by an additional heat source. Moreover, differences in performance are insignificant. If you focus on proper heating with a geothermal system, you can connect a water electric heater to the system, which will work normally if the ambient temperature does not fall below 20 degrees below zero.
Comparison with alternative sources
Installing a heat pump is relevant in regions where there is no global gas pipeline, and a balloon heat source is not always profitable and practical to buy. Compared to firewood and coal, the system in question is much more efficient and does not require significant labor costs.
Other advantages:
- a boiler with liquid refrigerant requires significant costs of the source material and a special room, which is inappropriate for small country houses;
- electric heating is much more expensive;
- gas equipment is also not cheap and requires all sorts of permits and installation rules.
Despite the fact that the installation of a heat pump is more expensive than the installation of gas equipment, the energy from the environment subsequently does not require a monthly payment. The economic effect will manifest itself in just a few months.
Payback
In a numerical value, the performance of the aggregate in question is not so simple to calculate. This information depends on the initial cost of the unit and its operating conditions. In any case, the amount of energy consumed by this device is 3-4 times less than that of alternative heating systems.
Maximum efficiency is achieved by observing the following rules:
- The heated room must be insulated to a loss parameter of at least 100 W / sq. m. This relationship is a determining factor in the profitability of installing a heat pump.
- The equipment in question must be connected to low-temperature sources of heating. The thermal range of these suppliers should vary between 30-40 degrees Celsius (underfloor heating, convectors, air conditioners and the like).
Installation and maintenance
The heat exchanger in the entire system is the most "long-suffering" unit. During installation, errors are often made in terms of understating the working diameters of the pipes. If you remove the savings on materials, it is advisable to use polyethylene pipes and connectors that tolerate thermal fluctuations well. The use of polypropylene is strongly not recommended.
Connect all parts of the pipeline using elements that meet the requirements of the rules of underground installation and reliability. In this case, one should not use compression compression fittings that leak after several months of operation. The best option is the use of electrofusion welding.
It is important to correctly use gaskets for wells, which make it possible to ensure maximum contact of the thermal probe with the soil. For this, prepared nests in the soil are filled with a composition having characteristics of heat conductivity not lower than that of the soil itself. It can be sand with a small inclusion of cement or concrete. Rubble and similar solutions with peaked components are best eliminated.
Common mistakes
To understand what a heat pump is, it is necessary to remember the characteristic errors that users make when installing the specified device.
This includes:
- Insufficient length of the conductive pipes of the primary circuit. This is fraught with freezing of the refrigerant, the problem is fixed by shifting the pipeline or by the equipment of an additional circuit.
- Reducing the diameter of mating elements. As a result, the power of the entire system is reduced, which requires re-shifting the heat exchanger.
- The closest possible location of the filament contours leads to freezing of the liquid in the system. Additional contouring or shifting of the existing structure will be required.
- The use of compression fittings and polypropylene parts. The refrigerant in the system freezes, there is a leak at the connection points. The way out of the situation is the dismantling of the object and laying it according to a new project.
To summarize
Based on this information, the heat pump will be a good and economical alternative to traditional heating methods. The installation of such equipment, in addition to these advantages, guarantees the owner independence from external factors (interruptions in the supply of gas or electricity). In addition, natural energy does not require payment and is available in unlimited quantities.