Heat Pump Hot Water Systems

Sometimes Solar Hot water may not be a viable option. This is where a Heat Pump Hot Water System comes into play. Heat pumps work on the same principle as your refrigerator, using a refrigerant that evaporates at low temperatures, but instead of allowing the waste heat to dissipate into the open air, it is transferred into the hot water system. If you’ve ever stood next to your split system air conditioning outdoor condenser, you would probably have noticed warm air when inside is being kept cool, and cold air being emitted when inside is being kept warm.  Heat Pumps use this cycle to generate hot water. 

For these systems to work, there are a number of key steps in the process:

• A liquid refrigerant passes through an evaporator where it picks up heat from the air and becomes a gas.
• The gas refrigerant is compressed in an electric compressor. Compressing the gas causes its temperature to increase so that it becomes hotter than the water in the tank.
• The hot gas flows into a condenser, where it passes its heat to the water and turns back into a liquid.
• The liquid refrigerant then flows into an expansion valve where its pressure is reduced, allowing it to cool and enter the evaporator to repeat the cycle.