How Does a Heat Pump Work?
A heat pump works to transfer energy from a low-temperature reservoir (such as the ground or air outside your home) to the interior of your building.
It uses a refrigerant and optimized heat exchangers to do this. For every one joule of work, the heat pump transfers 27 joules of heat from a reservoir at 270 K to an interior at 280 K.
Thermodynamics
A heat pump is a thermodynamic system that moves thermal energy from a cooler environment to a warmer one. This is a much more efficient way of heating your home than a traditional fuel-burning system, because it doesn't have to create the thermal energy from scratch.
Since a heat pump works by transferring more heat than the work put into it, it is able to achieve higher levels of efficiency than most refrigerators and air conditioners. It has a coefficient of performance (COP) that ranges from about 2 to 4, which means that for every 1 kilowatthour of electricity used, the heat pump transfers two to four times as much energy to your home.
The physics of a heat pump are simple and similar to those of an electric resistance heater. The only difference is that the heat pump makes use of the high quality and flexibility of electricity to transfer more than one unit of energy from a cold area to a hot one.
Refrigerant
A heat pump uses a refrigerant to perform its heating and cooling functions. The refrigerant is a chemical compound that changes from gas to liquid and back again, enabling it to absorb heat and dissipate it into the air.
When selecting the right refrigerant for a new heat pump system, there are several key factors that you should consider. One of these is the critical point of the refrigerant, which determines the temperature at which the liquid and gas states can achieve their maximum potential.
Another important consideration is the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the refrigerant. Refrigerants with high GWP values are thousands of times more dangerous to the climate than ones with low GWP values.
Condenser
A heat pump condenser is an important part of your home’s air conditioning or heating system. Depending on the season, it either collects or releases heat outdoors.
The condenser is located outside of the home and connected to the indoor unit with tubing to carry refrigerant vapor. It uses a reverse refrigeration cycle to compress the refrigerant from a gas to a liquid, and then transfers it into the water heating circuit around your radiators.
There are a number of ways to maintain a heat pump condenser and help it work at its best. The first is to keep the condenser clean, especially if it’s located in a moist area. If the condenser gets clogged with dirt and debris, your compressor will have to run harder to get enough cooling.
Evaporator
The evaporator is used in a heat pump to absorb the heat from the refrigerant that it contains. It does this by boiling off the liquid refrigerant and converting it into a gas.
The refrigerant enters the evaporator coil as an 80% liquid and 20% vapor from the compressor and metering device. The evaporator coil is designed to be at a very low pressure so that the refrigerant will absorb heat.
The evaporator is also a good place to remove contaminants that could cause problems with your system. For example, pollutants in the air like formaldehyde can eat into the tubing that connects the evaporator coil to the compressor.
Airflow
A heat pump's airflow is a critical component of its performance. It helps distribute warm air to occupants and cool air to the ground.
The outdoor unit of a typical heat pump has a coil that acts as both an evaporator (cooling) and condenser (heating). A fan blows outside air over the coil to facilitate the heat exchange between the two components.
Inside the air handler, a refrigerant circulates between the indoor coil and an outdoor compressor. The flow of the refrigerant can be changed using a reversing valve to switch between heating and cooling.
The total external static pressure of the air handling equipment's blower wheel and the indoor coil is a crucial factor in determining fan airflow and system performance. Our study found that total system capacity, sensible capacity and EER drop in a non-linear fashion below a flow of 425 cfm/ton (57 L/S per kW).
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A heat pump works to transfer energy from a low-temperature reservoir (such as the ground or air outside your home) to the interior of your building. It uses a refrigerant and optimized heat exchangers to do this. For every one joule of work, the heat pump transfers 27 joules of heat from a reservoir at…