How Do You Integrate Air Source Heat Pumps with Solar Thermal Heaters?

Are you looking for the most energy-efficient air source heat pumps for cold climates in the North American market? If yes, then you should look no further than the Arctic Heat Pump. Apart from this, the heat pump is recognized for hydronic heating and cooling application. 

In addition, the Arctic series air source heat pumps for cold climates are perfectly engineered to integrate quickly with a solar thermal heater. With the integration, you can expect to take advantage of increasing overall efficiency and the system’s operational costs. Solar thermal heating system makes a perfect integrating unit to use with an air source heat pump and can add an extra 47,000 BTU per day on an average per every collector. 

For integrating with the solar thermal heating system, the Arctic Heat Pump uses the SunRain Solar Vacuum Tube Collectors that will allow the system to provide hot water even during the coldest winter in North America. The evacuated tube collectors are well-known as the top-rated technology with a ten-year warranty. Their efficiency allows the system to produce energy even on cloudy days. Solar thermal systems have an 80% efficiency rating which means they capture and provide 80% of the solar energy. 

How Does the Integration of Air Source Heat Pump and Solar Thermal Heater Work? 

Solar evacuated tube collectors utilize heat pipe technology that helps in transferring solar energy to the heat bulb. The heat bulb can attain temperatures up to 300C. Every collector contains 20 or 30 bulbs, inserted into an insulated copper header, known as a heat exchanger. 

The heat pipes start transferring heat energy to the header and then to a special glycol heating fluid. Every header comprises 0.6 gallons or 2.2 liters of heating fluid. A temperature sensor is inserted into the header heat exchanger. A second temperature sensor is present in the bottom part of the heat pump buffer tank and a differential controller with a pump system senses temperatures. 

When the heating fluid present in the top of the collector exceeds the tank’s water temperature, the pump gets switched on starting the energy transfer process. The hot heating fluid circulates through the large heat exchanger present on the bottom part of the tank. After that, the energy is transferred to the storage tank which is again delivered to the remaining home heating system. 

Integrating air source heat pumps with solar systems makes a perfect combination as they have the same glycol heating fluid. Other than air-to-air heat pumps, hydronic heat pumps, and solar thermal systems have the same energy storage principle of a thermal mass, known as a buffer tank. Most homeowners want to reduce energy costs; so you should consider the advantage of combining air-source heat pumps for cold climates with solar thermal heaters to increase overall performance and minimize operational costs. 

If you want help with integrating an air source heat pump with a solar thermal system, please contact Arctic Heat Pumps today at 1-866-800-8123.