With the world's focus on sustainability growing, plumbing engineers play a crucial role in adopting eco-friendly solutions. A major trend in commercial pump technology is the drive for efficiency and energy conservation. Find out how manufacturers are addressing environmental concerns and high energy costs.
Last month, we discussed how solid thermal energy storage, combined with an air-to-water heat pump and an electric boiler, provides a platform to leverage time-of-use electrical rates in ways that can benefit customers as well as the utility providing the electricity.
A problem is developing with the transition to electric heating: peak demand. Learn how air-to-water heat pumps tackle seasonal needs but struggle during extreme cold, leading to reliance on electric resistance heating.
>By combining water heating with space heating through heat pumps, a synergy is achieved that maximizes efficiency. This dual functionality is particularly relevant given the constant demand for hot water in residential, commercial and industrial settings.
Like most people, I have opinions and beliefs about our current energy sources, and specifically how they play into the future of hydronic heating and cooling technology.
System COP is a more relevant metric of geothermal heat pump performance since the owner is paying for the electrical energy to operate the heat pump and the circulator, and their operation is always simultaneous.
While some cities have banned or attempted to ban gas-fired boilers in new buildings, other areas favor hybrid electric/gas or high efficiency gas systems as sustainable solutions.
The goal is to keep the system COP as high a possible as the operating conditions of the heat pump change. The logic behind maximum COP tracking is to continually look for an earth loop flow rate that improves the system COP.
So, your firm won the bid to design a new commercial project that includes a hydronic radiant snow- and ice-melting system. How do you start and what do you need to know?