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Using heat pumps reduces the use of fossil fuels for heating and cooling both air and water. Recent advances in heat pump technology make heat pumps practical in a variety of applications.

Combination air-to-water and water-to-water heat pumps are ideal for in-floor hydronic heating systems
E-Tech's low-ambient system combining air-to-water and water-to-water heat pump technology is especially effective for in-floor hydronic heatings systems. If the outside air temperature is above 35 degrees and there is a call for heating from the building management system, the E-Tech water heater uses standard air-to-water heat pump technology to take heat from the air and transfer it into the water.

When the outside air temperature is below 35 degrees, hydronic heating occurs in two stages. In the first stage, the air-to-water heat pump is still recovering heat from the outdoor air. It delivers 70-degree F liquid from a condenser of a dual circuit vapor compression system to the intermediate heat exchanger, which is also the evaporator for the second stage. In the second stage, a water-to-water heat pump takes the 70-degree water up to 110 degrees at specified flow rates for circulation through the radiant floor loop.

When there is a call for cooling, the heat pump reverses and takes heat from the water in the floor loop and rejects the heat to the outside, thus cooling the water. The building management system maintains the loop temperature above the dew point so that condensation does not form.
Low-ambient air-to-water heat pumps heat and cool
You can use low-ambient- temperature air-to-water heat pumps to replace both boilers and cooling towers in commercial water source heat pump applications. This saves energy, reduces fossil fuel used for heating, and reduces the amount of water needed for cooling.

Air-to-water heat pumps cool air and provide free hot water
An air-to-water heat pump provides free hot water when there is a coincident cooling and hot water load. Typical applications for this technology include restaurant kitchens, laundry facilities, and food processing. In these and similar applications, air-to-water heat pumps provide a two-fer: extracting heat from the air, thus providing cooling, and transferring the heat to the hot water, providing hot water without using any extra energy.

Water-to-water heat pumps reduce chiller loads and recover heat
Water-to-water heat pumps reduce the load on chillers and recover heat. When used to recover heat from a building chiller loop (commonly used in large commercial buildings and hotels), the cost of operating the heat pump is generally offset by the reduced load on the chiller.

We can help
Contact us about design support for hydronic heating projects.