Heat Pump Device

A Heat Pump Device is a thermodynamic device that transfers thermal energy from a cooler area to a warmer area by using mechanical energy.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) use refrigeration cycles to move heat against its natural direction of flow.
  • It can (often) be more energy-efficient than conventional electric heating systems because it moves heat rather than generating it.
  • It can range from being a Residential Heating System to being a critical component in large-scale District Heating systems.
  • It can employ various sources such as air, ground, or water to extract or dissipate heat.
  • It can be instrumental in Climate Change Mitigation by reducing the dependence on fossil fuels for heating and cooling.
  • It can vary significantly in coefficient of performance (COP) and seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP), indicating their efficiency over time.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • an Air Source Heat Pump that extracts heat from outdoor air, even in cold weather, to heat indoor spaces.
  • a Ground Source Heat Pump that uses the earth's stable temperature as the exchange medium instead of the outside air temperature.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Refrigerator or Air Conditioner.
  • Electric Resistance Heating, which generates heat rather than transferring it and typically has lower energy efficiency.
  • a Traditional Furnace that burn fuel to create warmth.
• See: Condensing Boiler, Work (Thermodynamics), Thermal Energy, Heat Pump And Refrigeration Cycle, Refrigerant, Compression (Physics), Heat Transfer, Air Source Heat Pump, Ground Source Heat Pump, Water-Source Heat Pumps, Exhaust Air Heat Pump, District Heating.

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References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/heat_pump Retrieved:2024-4-15.
  • A heat pump is a device that uses work to transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space by transferring thermal energy using a refrigeration cycle, cooling the cool space and warming the warm space. In cold weather, a heat pump can move heat from the cool outdoors to warm a house; the pump may also be designed to move heat from the house to the warmer outdoors in warm weather. As they transfer heat rather than generating heat, they are more energy-efficient than other ways of heating or cooling a home. A gaseous refrigerant is compressed so its temperature rises. When operating as a heater in cold weather, the warmed gas flows to a heat exchanger in the indoor space where some of its thermal energy is transferred to that indoor space, causing the gas to condense to its liquid state. The liquified refrigerant flows to a heat exchanger in the outdoor space where the pressure falls, the liquid evaporates and the temperature of the gas falls. It is now colder than the temperature of the outdoor space being used as a heat source. It can again take up energy from the heat source, be compressed and repeat the cycle. Air source heat pumps are the most common models, while other types include ground source heat pumps, water source heat pumps and exhaust air heat pumps. Large-scale heat pumps are also used in district heating systems. The efficiency of a heat pump is expressed as a coefficient of performance (COP), or seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP). The higher the number, the more efficient a heat pump is. When used for space heating, heat pumps are typically more energy-efficient than electric resistance and other heaters. Because of their high efficiency and the increasing share of fossil-free sources in electrical grids, heat pumps are playing a key role in climate change mitigation. Consuming 1 kWh of electricity, they can transfer 1 to 4.5  kWh of thermal energy into a building. The carbon footprint of heat pumps depends on how electricity is generated, but they usually reduce emissions. Heat pumps could satisfy over 80% of global space and water heating needs with a lower carbon footprint than gas-fired condensing boilers: however, in 2021 they only met 10%.

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