Efficient natural gas heat system
The HEAT4U (Gas absorption heat pump solution for existing residential buildings) project designed residential absorption heat pumps driven by natural gas to produce heat and domestic hot water (DHW) cost effectively. HEAT4U designed a stand-alone solution that copes with varying conditions. The system can work at temperatures down to – 17 degrees Celsius and does not require a back-up boiler. Keeping the installation simple was a key priority, meaning that no changes to the building construction were necessary. The hydraulic system is separated in a heat generation side and a heat distribution side, allowing integration of the technology with existing heating and DHW architectures. As such, the innovative heat pumps can be integrated with solar heat pumps or biomass boilers, and they can retain high efficiencies even when operating at partial loads. Field tests in 5 sites across Europe demonstrated that the systems use approximately 30 % less energy than a condensing boiler, enabling households to slash heating costs by 40 %. Furthermore, the tests indicated that heat pumps produced heat for space heating alone and for space heating and DHW at efficiencies over 150 % and around 140 %, respectively. Extracting heat from ambient air and even the ground is the concept behind the heat pump operation. These are systems that move heat from a cool space into a warm space, making the cool areas cooler and the warm areas warmer. During the winter months, heat pumps draw and extract heat from the outdoor air and move it into your warm house. In the summertime, heat pumps move heat from within your house into the warm outdoors. The HEAT4U solution increases the energy efficiency of the buildings, while significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional condensing boilers. Unlike microgeneration and other power production technologies, this energy-efficient technology based on natural gas avoids the costs of new grid infrastructure and does not require massive and expensive upgrades.
Keywords
Natural gas, residential buildings, gas absorption, heat pump, domestic hot water, space heating
