Multifamily Building Heat Pump Guide

How Heat Pumps Work

Heat pumps use the latest technology to pull heat from the air or underground and use it to heat your home in the colder months. In the warmer months, they flow in reverse and use a refrigerant to cool your home. This method makes them environmentally friendly, extremely efficient, and affordable to operate.

Heat Pump Benefits

• Up to 3X more efficient than oil-fueled systems
• Dual heat and cooling
• Low maintenance costs
• Whisper quiet
• Lower emissions
• Air filtration and dehumidification
• Easy to operate
• Personalized comfort control

Heat Pump Types

Geothermal

Geothermal (also known as ground-source) heat pumps transfer heat stored in the earth into your building during the winter, and transfer it out and back into the ground during the summer to keep your space cool.

Plus, systems equipped with desuperheaters can also produce hot water by transferring excess heat from the pump’s compressor to your building’s hot water tank.

Geothermal includes three principal components:

1. Ground Loop
   A series of connected pipes buried in the ground circulate water to absorb heat from, or relinquish heat to, the surrounding soil, depending on whether the system is providing heat or cooling. In other words, the system uses the earth as a heat source during winter and a heat sink during summer.
2. Heat Pump
   The mechanical system that compresses a refrigerant to efficiently move heat into or out of a building. During winter, the heat pump removes heat from the water in the ground loop and transfers it to the building. During summer, the process is reversed.
3. Heat Distribution
   Subsystem Conventional ductwork is generally used to distribute heated or cooled air from the geothermal heat pump throughout the building.

Air-Source

An air-source heat pump moves existing heat in the air from one place to another using electricity. In summer, it moves heat from inside a building to the outside like an air conditioner. In winter, it works in reverse, extracting heat from outside to bring it into a building to supplement your furnace, baseboard heating, or radiator, and increasing the lifespan of your heating equipment.

There are two types of Air Source Heat Pumps.

Central Air Source Heat Pump

A central air-source heat pump is great for buildings with existing central air-conditioner systems that need to be replaced, or new construction projects. .

Ductless Mini-Split

A ductless mini-split is a small, standalone air-source heat pump that is easy to install and offers more design flexibility since it can be suspended from a ceiling or hung on a wall. It’s ideal for drafty rooms or single units.

The variations of Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pumps include:

1. FLOOR MOUNTED
   Ideal for retrofits or any room with limited upper wall space as its compact size fits easily under a standard window.
2. SLIM DUCT
   These look most like central air, concealed with minimal ductwork mounted in a ceiling or in a framed enclosure below a ceiling.
3. COMPACT CASSETTE
   The most discrete mini-split—only the compact cassette grille shows in the ceiling. It uses the latest fan technology to distribute the conditioned air evenly.
4. WALL MOUNTED
   These mount high on a wall, out of sight. No ductwork required, and maintenance is very simple.

Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF)

VRF uses heat pump technology to circulate refrigerant to one or multiple indoor units, allowing for simultaneous heating and cooling in different zones and personalized comfort control.

By using refrigerant to move heat throughout a building, as opposed to water or air, and adjusting the flow of refrigerant continually based on the energy needs of each indoor unit, VRF systems operate more efficiently than traditional HVAC systems.

Heat Pump Water Heater

Heat pump water heaters are up to three times more energy efficient than conventional electric resistance water heaters since they use electricity to move heat from one place to another instead of generating heat directly.

The system works like a refrigerator in reverse. While a refrigerator pulls heat from inside and releases it into the surrounding room, a heat pump water heater pulls heat from the surrounding air and releases it—at a higher temperature—into a tank to warm up the water inside.