Air-Water Heat Pumps
Advantages
- price/performance ratio
- versatility
- easy installation
Disadvantages
- lower efficiency in deep freeze conditions
How does an air-water heat pump work?
The exterior unit (an evaporator with a fan) installed outside sucks in air from which it removes a certain amount of heat and then blows the exhaust (cooled) air back outside. The interior unit, which is installed on the inside of the building, heats the heating water and domestic hot water.
Modern heat pumps can work very reliably even at very low outside temperatures (as low as -20 °C).
The efficiency of air-water heat pumps:
You can find out more about what to watch for when buying a heat pump in the section Practical Tips.
The average heat factor of an air-water heat pump doesn't vary much throughout the heating season from that of a ground-water heat pump based system. This is due to the fact that at the beginning and at the end of the heating season, the air is warmer than the ground (see Average Temperatures in the Czech Republic). From a financial perspective, when heating a family home with an average heat loss using ground water based system will only save about CZK 2,000 per year versus the use of an air-water based system. The cost of the initial investment can however vary by up to CZK 100,000 due to the cost of drilling the bore holes for the ground-based system.
Capacity sizing of air-water heat pumps
If you're not sure about the heat loss of your building and don't know which particular type of heat pump is right for you, fill out this simple contact form.
The heat output of MasterTherm CZ air-water heat pumps is sized to correspond to 100% of the building's heat loss. This means that the answer to the above question is that as long as the heat loss calculation for your building is correct, you don't have to worry that the heat pump system won't be able to provide enough heat for your home. Also, each installation includes a backup electric boiler, which automatically kicks-in to compensate for any lack of heating capacity.
Heat Source Requirements
The exterior unit must be installed in an open area with a good supply of fresh air. It is important to make sure that the chilled air, which is being blown out of the unit, is not being immediately sucked back in, creating an undesirable feedback loop, seriously reducing the efficiency and the performance of the heat pump. The idea installation location is a south-facing, sunny side of your home, where the unit should either be installed on the outside wall of the building, on the top of the roof or in a location detached from the building. The maximum possible distance between the exterior and interior units is 12 meters.