Why Heat Pumps are good for the Environment
The above video is from the Stiebel Eltron Academy in Germany explaining why Heat Pumps are good for the environment.
Technology Overview of Heat Pumps
Heat energy flows naturally from a hot place to a cold place. The main task of a heat pump is to move heat energy in the opposite direction i.e. from a cooler to a hotter place but energy is required to achieve this! There is a lot of natural energy available in our environment which can be tapped into and the role of the heat pump is to collect this energy and move it to where it’s needed.
The heat pump is the machine which drives the cycle of heat collection and release. A heat pump is similar to a fridge in the way it works except the process is opposite – the heat is taken from the air, ground and water and released into the building.
A heat pump uses an electric compressor which moves a fluid (called a refrigerant) around in a closed pipe circuit. A heat exchanger takes the heat from the surroundings, transfers it to the refrigerant circuit passing through the compressor, where its temperature is raised. The heat then passes through another heat exchanger, where it is transferred to the dwelling, and the cycle can start again.
The most common type of heat pumps are electrically driven with electricity used to drive the compressor. The collector, the heat pump unit, the heat distribution system and the control system all make up the heat pump system. There are three main types of heat pump:
- Air Source Heat Pumps- energy is extracted from the external air
- Ground Source Heat Pumps – energy in the soil is extracted either by transferring heat from a horizontal bed of pipes laid flat in the soil or by transferring heat from pipes laid in a vertical borehole
- Water Source Heat Pumps- energy in the water is extracted directly, either from wells or from rivers, streams
