Energy-saving and environmentally friendly: heat pumps are the contemporary alternative for air conditioning residential and commercial properties.
Whether electricity, oil, gas or wood: even today, the heating of residential and commercial properties is still associated with a long outdated consumption of artificially generated energy or the burning of increasingly scarce fossil fuels. This development is reflected not least in the galloping heating costs worldwide.
With regard to their economic and environmentally friendly advantages, heat pumps are therefore considered the best and equally contemporary alternative. In Germany alone, more than half of all new buildings are currently installed with heat pump systems for heating homes and commercial premises. „A similar trend can also be observed in Mallorca. Heat pump technology, often in combination with solar thermal and/or photovoltaic systems, is now in demand in many new builds and refurbishments, according to Greentech Balear.
The technology of the heat pump may sound a little complex to the layman– however, it can be summed up in one sentence: The heat pump simply uses energy from the environment: air, earth, water to convert it for heating and cooling in the property. The energy requirement is significantly lower than that of conventional methods.
How do heat pumps work?
Wärmepumpen use – as their name suggests – the ambient heat of a building from the air, earth or water – to convert it into heating or cooling energy. It consists of three parts; the heat source system that extracts the required energy from the environment, the heat pump that makes the energy usable and the distribution and storage system that distributes or temporarily stores the heat/cooling energy.
The principle is based on that of a refrigerator. The system consists of a closed circuit in which a liquid refrigerant circulates. The heat drawn in from outside is transformed into gas in a first heat exchanger, the evaporator, when it comes into contact with the liquid refrigerant. This gaseous refrigerant is then fed to a compressor, which compresses the gaseous refrigerant. The compression of the refrigerant causes it to heat up and is passed to the second heat exchanger, the so-called condenser. Here, the highly pressurized, heated gaseous refrigerant is condensed. During condensation, the gas liquefies again, releasing its heat. This heat is in turn absorbed by the water circulating as a heating medium in the building to be heated. The resulting hot water can then be used to heat the respective heating systems installed in the building or as hot service water. The refrigerant, which has become liquid again, is then returned to the evaporator - and the cycle starts all over again.
Heating with heat pumps
The hot water produced in the pump by the compression of gaseous refrigerant and its subsequent condensation is distributed via a distribution system either directly to the individual heating surfaces of the building or to the individual heating systems;of the building or can be stored in a so-called „heating buffer“ for later use – for example as hot water in the bathroom or kitchen.
Kühlen mit Wärmepumpen
Despite their name, heat pumps can also be used to cool residential or commercial properties. There are two types: active and passive cooling. With active cooling, the heat is not extracted from the surroundings, but from the building to be cooled. The heat generated can also be used as a heating medium for air and water within the property. With passive cooling, the heat pump extracts the excess room heat and simultaneously pumps cooler air from the ground or groundwater into the interior. Advantage: The compressor of the heat pump is not required for access. The power consumption is therefore limited to the system's circulation pumps alone. What's more, heat transfer from the building into the ground increases its temperature as a heat source.
Electricity costs for the use of heat pumps
In general, the electricity consumption of heat pumps as a heating or cooling system for buildings is up to 80 percent lower than that of conventional systems. It depends above all on the requirements in terms of the heating or cooling temperatures desired over the course of the year. An equally important role for the efficiency of a heat pump system is played by the heat transfer efficiency of the building, i.e. the lowest possible temperature difference within the rooms. These conditions are generally easier to meet in new buildings, which are well insulated and generate only minor temperature fluctuations within the building thanks to large heating surfaces. Nevertheless, heat pumps are also recommended for the air conditioning of existing properties. However, they should always be tested to improve their thermal insulation properties before installation.
Find out more about heat pumps
Greentech Balear in Santa Ponsa
Tel +34 644 450 672
