Heat pump: what is it, what is it for and scope of application - Setafi

Probably people who at least once thought about autonomous heating of their own homes came across the term "heat pump", but they did not fully understand what it was. Today we will try to explain this term in detail.

People are used to getting heat in their homes from burning something. For example, earlier in each private house there was a wood-burning stove. People burned firewood, coal and heated their homes. In principle, this method of heating has survived to this day, but it is becoming less and less common. In cities, gas, coal and oil products are burned to heat high-rise buildings. That is, the principle of obtaining heat is preserved: you need to burn something to make it warm.

But you need to understand that this method of obtaining heat cannot last forever. Sooner or later, the resources for incineration will start to run out. This thought haunted many people, so they began to think about alternative sources of heat.

A heat pump is one of the alternative ways to generate heat. If you look, then around people there is a lot of heat in the air, water and earth. A heat pump helps to generate heat from them without burning anything.

Heat pump - what is it?

A heat pump is a device that generates heat from the environment and delivers it to a home's heating system. Heat pumps are powered by energy, but it is not spent on heating the home, as in an electric fireplace, but on transferring heat from the environment to the house. Thanks to this approach, the efficiency of the energy expended is much higher than with direct home heating. Therefore, electricity is saved, which has a positive effect on the environment.

Heat pumps: types

There are three types of heat pumps, according to the methods of generating heat:

1. Air - generate heat from the air mass.
2. Geothermal - generate heat from the earth.
3. Water - generate heat from the water of rivers, lakes, seas and underground sources.

The principle of operation is simple. In one of the environments described above, a radiator-heat exchanger is placed, which collects heat from the ground, air or water. With the help of a heat pump, this heat is accumulated, its temperature rises and is sent to the home heating system.

In fact, every person in his life has seen a heat pump in operation. Prominent representatives of these pumps are the refrigerator and air conditioner. Yes, they work for cooling. But the heat pump can work both for heating and for cooling. It all depends on how the heat exchange cycle is organized. In the refrigerator, the thermodynamic cycle is organized for cooling. But if you send it in the reverse order, then the refrigerator will work as a heater. No, this does not mean that there is a thermodynamic cycle switch somewhere in the refrigerator. This means that the principle of operation is diametrically opposed, but very similar. Because very often, when heating with a heat pump, freon is also used in the system as a coolant.

According to the type of heat carriers in the input and output systems, the heat pump models are divided into 8 categories:

• "land-water";
• "water-water";
• "air-water";
• "ground-air";
• "water-air";
• "air-to-air";
• "freon-water";
• freon air.

Freon-air is a cooling system in air conditioners and refrigerators. For heating, "freon-water", "air-air" and "air-water" are more often used.

Accordingly, the efficiency of the heat pump and the heat system will depend on the heat carrier used and the climatic conditions. For example, in hot countries, the air-to-air system has proven itself well. In cooler countries, air-to-water is used more often, but the effectiveness of this system drops when frosts fall below -25. If the frost drops below, then the heating system cannot cope and you have to connect additional sources of heat supply.

In mountainous regions, the "land-air" and "water-air" systems are common. Inhabitants of mountain landscapes actively “pump out” heat from the mountains. Moreover, installations can be both horizontal and vertical. In vertical systems, the following principle of heat generation is common:

• dig a deep well;
• a heat exchanger is lowered into it, through which antifreeze, diluted alcohol, freon or just water flows;
• the well is filled with water and the water "brings" the heat from the stones to the heat exchanger.

The depth of such wells reaches 170 meters.

In general, the most effective method of heating is the collection of heat from the ground. This method is good because the temperature of the soil, even at a shallow depth, remains unchanged all year round. The temperature of water or air changes, but the earth does not. Therefore, earth heating installations are practically independent of weather conditions. The Scandinavian countries are ahead of the rest in the use of such a system. They are obsessed with green energy and environmental protection, which makes them a little better than other countries. The essence of this method boils down to the fact that a system of radiators must be buried in the ground to a depth of at least 50 centimeters, below the level of soil freezing. Conventionally, this is 1.2-2 meters "under the ground." Antifreeze is poured into the radiator system, which will bring the "heat of the earth" into the house. Antifreeze drives the heat pump through the system. The problem with this method is that it is very expensive and pays off in no less than 10-15 years.

Conclusion

A heat pump is an essential part of a heating or cooling system that uses the heat from the environment. A heat pump is an electrical device that “drives” a heat exchange fluid through a heating system. It is important to buy it when you plan to organize autonomous heating in your house using the warmth of nature.

In our latitudes, this method of heating housing is not very common due to its high cost, laborious implementation and specific climate. If the climate is too cold, this method of heating does not cope, so you still have to use traditional heating.