–How Do Heat Pumps Work?
Lots of us in New Zealand have heat pumps in our homes. This appliance in our home sits on our walls or floors, keeping us warm in winter and cool in summer. So do heat pumps manage to do both?
Although the technology sounds complicated it has actually been around for a long time.
Heat pumps work very similarly to a fridge, transferring heat energy using vapour compression.
There are two main parts to a heat pump system, the outdoor unit and the indoor unit.
The outdoor unit contains the compressor which pumps refrigerant between two heat exchanger coils. In the first coil the refrigerant is evaporated at a low temperature and absorbs heat from its surroundings. The hot refrigerant is then passed through pipes from the outdoor unit into the indoor unit.
While the refrigerant is passed through the pipes to the second coil in the indoor unit it is compressed and condenses under the high pressure. During this condensing stage it releases the heat it absorbed earlier. The cold air enters the heat pump and is passed through the hot coil. The now hot air is then released into the room.
This cycle is reversable allowing our Hitachi heat pumps to provide indoor climate control all year around.
If you’re interested to see more of the indoor wall mounted unit, check out this video here.
by Hitachi
