USING THE AIR OUTSIDE TO HEAT AND COOL YOUR HOME.

When we think about air conditioners we think of them as appliances that cool a space.  In reality they are removing the heat, yes this is splitting hairs, but it explains how we can use these same appliances to provide heat in the winter as well.

Have you ever stood next to an outdoor condenser and felt the hot air blowing out of it?  This is the condenser unit rejecting the heat from inside.  These units work by flowing refrigerant in a loop thru the outdoor and indoor unit picking heat up inside and dropping it off outside.

The refrigerant can absorb and reject heat by constantly changing its state from a liquid to a gas and back, when it is passing thru the indoor unit or evaporator it changes from liquid to gas and absorbs heat.  The gas is then run through the outdoor unit or condenser where it is condensed back to a liquid and the heat is rejected.  In the winter a heat pump unit can reverse this process and take the heat from outside and bring it inside to provide heating. 

On the inside the heating or cooling process has generally been limited to an air based system.  However by adding a refrigerant to water heat exchanger indoors we can transfer the energy to water, now we have an air to water heat pump.

If we cycle the water thru heat emitters that are designed for lower temperatures such as radiant, panel radiators or specially designed air handlers we have a very efficient heating and cooling system that is using up to 75% renewable (free energy) and dramatically reducing carbon emissions.

Since the indoor heat emitters are hydronic it is very simple to pipe in a supplemental heat source like a wood, gas or oil boiler for the really cold days.  Accessories like solar kits and water heaters allow the user to reduce their energy consumption even further.

Take a look at the Daikin Altherma system here.