Heat Pumps

A heat pump can be used in several industrial processes. Industrial plants have both waste heat flows and heat consumers. Waste heat flows are for example: waste water, hot humid air, condenser heat from refrigeration systems and others. Heat consumers are process water, central heating systems, blanchers, dryers, etc. For climates with moderate heating and cooling needs, heat pumps offer an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners. Much like your refrigerator, heat pumps use electricity to move heat from a cool space to a warm space, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer. During the heating season, heat pumps move heat from the cool outdoors into your warm house and during the cooling season, heat pumps move heat from your cool house into the warm outdoors. Because they move heat rather than generate heat, heat pumps can provide equivalent space conditioning at as little as one quarter of the cost of operating conventional heating or cooling appliances.

A heat pump is the most efficient heating machine on the market. A heat pump also acts as a central air conditioner in summer, giving you year-round comfort. A heat pump is an electrical device that extracts heat from one place and transfers it to another. The heat pump is not a new technology; it has been used around the world for decades. Refrigerators and air conditioners are both common examples of this technology. A heat pump transfers heat by circulating a substance called a refrigerant through a cycle of evaporation and condensation. A compressor pumps the refrigerant between two heat exchanger coils. In one coil, the refrigerant is evaporated at low pressure and absorbs heat from its surroundings. The refrigerant is then compressed en route to the other coil, where it condenses at high pressure. At this point, it releases the heat it absorbed earlier in the cycle. The heat pump cycle is fully reversible, and heat pumps can provide year-round climate control for your home heating in winter and cooling and dehumidifying in summer. Since the ground and air outside always contain some heat, a heat pump can supply heat to a house even on cold winter days.

Instead of making heat, a heat pump Las Vegas extracts it from the outside. Your refrigerator is a good example of a one-way heat pump. It removes heat from the air inside the refrigerator and moves it to the coils on the outside either back or bottom of the refrigerator. Ground-source heat pumps typically cost more to install than air-to-air heat pumps, but they are the most efficient heating choice because of their heat source-the earth itself. Ground-source heat pumps also may last longer than air-to-air models. There is less wear on the compressor because they operate over a narrower range of temperatures, following the uniform ground temperatures through the year.

In a study of air-to-air heat pumps performed elsewhere, after 10 or more years, more than half of the heat pumps were still in operation. Heat pumps are durable and for other reasons such as changing to a newer, more efficient, or different size.