Operating Experience with Different Kinds of Air-Source Heat Pumps in Canadian Winters

ABSTRACT The four key performance aspects of air-source heat pumps in a cold climate are high efficiency, low peak power demand, dependable defrosting, and long-term reliability. Some of these are interrelated, but a space-heating heat pump must excel in each area if it is to be attractive to customers and power utilities alike in areas with winters as harsh as Canada's. The ways in which three different types of heat pumps meet these challenges are compared and contrasted in this paper. The three types of hardware covered are conventional or “standard” models, “cold-climate” models, and “burner-assisted” heat pumps. Each type provides space heating, and usually summer cooling (air-conditioning) as well. Some models can also provide domestic hot water heating.