Heat pumps: The environmentally loved water heater

ALL122

 Product review

Louis Venter (15222072)

Albert Myburgh (15011552)

Christopher Labuschagne (14398860)

Reuben Vorster(15267131)

Justin du Plessis(14231027)

Heat pumps: The environmentally loved water heater

In this review we will be looking at what a air to water heat pump system is,and what the positive and negative aspects are. These technologically advanced systems are designed to be gentle on the environment and provide substantial financial and energy savings to reduce the impact we have on our carbon footprint. Researchers have designed a system wich will change the generating of hot water for commercial and private use forever, to reduce the use of electricity when producing hot water, since it it the most electricity consuming element in your house.

Heat pumps uses the same concept as a air conditioning system..just the reverse cycle to heat water by using the heat particles in the air to heat up the water. Latent heat is given off when the refrigerant gas is liquefied through the condenser and transferred to the surrounding water together with further heat loss, effectively raising the temperature of water to a higher temperature. The heat pump system consists of an evaporator, a compressor, refrigerant gas, a condenser, and an expansion valve within a closed circuit.

Heat pumps have many positive features. By using a Heat Pump you will significantly reduce your hot water energy demand , resulting in monetary saving due to low energy consumption. Where a geyser uses three units of electrical energy to produce three units of heat energy, a heat pump converts just one unit of electrical energy into four units of heat energy, so 1kW input of electricity will translate to a 4kW output. About 75% of the energy comes from this hot air and only 25% of the energy will come from electricity. The installations of these heat pumps are fairly easy and minimum space is required as seen in the picture below, which will make it ideal when space is limited. There is no longer an Eskom Rebate on the units, and has a noise level of just 50DB while it stores the hot water in your existing geyser. The heat pumps are only between R15 499 and R20 499 installed, so the amount of money saved can be seen in the table below, abstracted from www.oneenergy.co.za .

Average Electricity Bill Today	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Accumulated Savings over 3 years	Year 4	Year 5	Year 6	Year 7	Year 10	Total Savings over 10 Years
R900.00	R3727.08	R4435.23	R4967.45	R13 129.76	R5563.55	R6231.17	R7816.38	R7816.38	R10 981.45	R69 260.44
R1000.00	R4141.20	R4928.03	R5519.39	R14 588.62	R6181.72	R6923.52	R7754.35	R8648.87	R12 201.62	R76 956.05
R1100.00	R4555.32	R5420.83.	R6071.33	R16 047.48	R6799.89	R7615.88	R8529.78	R9553.36	R13 421.78	R84 651.65
R1200.00	R4969.44	R5913.63	R6623.27	R17 506.34	R7418.06	R8308.23	R9305.22	R10421.84	R14641.94	R92 347.26
R1300.00	R5383.56	R6406.44	R7175.21	R18 965.21	R8036.23	R9000.58	R10080.65	R11290.33	R15862.10	R100 042.86
R1400.00	R5979.68	R6899.24	R7727.15	R20 424.07	R8654.41	R9692.93	R10856.09	R12158.82	R17082.26	R107 738.47
R1500.00	R6211.80	R7329.04	R8279.09	R21 882.39	R9272.58	R10385.29	R11631.52	R13027.30	R18302.42	R115 434.07
R1600.00	R6625.92	R7884.84	R8831.03	R23 341.79	R9890.75	R11077.64	R12406.96	R13895.79	R19522.59	R123 129.68
R1700.00	R7040.04	R8377.65	R9382.97	R24 800.65	R10508.92	R11769.99	R13182.39	R14764.28	R20742.75	R130 825.28
R1800.00	R7454.16	R8870.45	R9934.90	R26 259.51	R11127.09	R12462.34	R13957.83	R15632.76	R21962.91	R138 520.89
R1900.00	R7868.28	R9363.25	R10486.84	R27 718.38	R11745.26	R13154.70	R14733.26	R16501.25	R23183.07	R146 216.49
R2000.00	R8282.40	R9856.06	R11038.78	R29 177.24	R12363.44	R13847.05	R15508.69	R17369.74	R24403.23	R153 912.10

(http://www.oneenergy.co.za/Heat-Pump-Elecricity-Savings-Calculator.asp)

Like most systems, everything can’t be perfect. Even-though the heat pump consists of many positive characteristics, it has some disadvantages that comes with it. When the heat pump is not placed correctly, the 50DB sound waves may be regarded as noisy to some people. If the water quality is hard, the manufacturer will not provide a warranty, and needs to be treated with a water softening plant, which might result in high cost implications. The correct placement of a heat pump is essential to ensure sufficient savings. It needs to face north, east or west-depending on where the most heat is produced by the sun. Heat pumps require a lot of maintenance and moving parts need to be changed, which requires the skills of a qualified plumber or electrician.

So if you are planning on building a new home, or improving your current water heating system,  and wanting to save the planet and your financial worries..you can-one heat pump at a time! The company which installed the heat pumps on the building site we visited (http://www.thermowise.co.za/) , offers a wide range of different heat pumps.

Resources

-ThermoWise [http://www.thermowise.co.za/] [2014]

-One Energy [http://www.oneenergy.co.za/Heat-Pump-Electricity-Savings-Calculator.asp] [One Energy™ Heat Pumps & Solar South Africa © 2014]

-Saving Energy [http://savingenergy.co.za/heat-pump/]

-Property24     [http://www.property24.com/articles/solar-geyser-or-heat-pump-pros-and-cons/19183] [2015]