2023-10-26 18:00:10
In two weeks I will receive a special heat pump in my home, with CO2 as a refrigerant. Barely known in the Netherlands, it has been in use in Japan for years. Is it the pump for everyone? No. But for me, I think it is the best solution.
As I argued last week, I have wanted a heat pump for some time. It should not consume a lot of electricity, not make a lot of noise for the neighbors, not burden the climate too much if the refrigerant leaks and not cost too much. And, oh yes, my house just needs to be able to get warm.
Popular in Japan
Last year I used a ‘trick’ that now allows me to add five green ticks to my list of requirements. I bought a relatively cheap heat pump/air conditioner especially for the living room. The rest of the house can remain slightly cooler and can therefore make do with a small and cheaper heat pump.
It was energy expert Pieter Jan Duineveld – he advised me before – who put me on the track of a pump with CO2 as a refrigerant. I thought it didn’t exist yet, but in Japan they have been using such a pump for years, albeit mostly for small homes and for hot water. Importer Durocan will bring it to the Netherlands and installer Duranet will install the pump.
With refrigerants you have the so-called Global Warming Potential (GWP), i.e. the extent to which a substance warms the earth more than CO2. Old heat pumps had refrigerants with a GWP of more than 2000. If one kilo of it enters the air through leakage, it causes as much warming as more than 2000 kilos of CO2. More modern pumps work with substances with a GWP of approximately 500. In the coming years, many manufacturers are aiming for propane, with a GWP of only 3. And in my case there is CO2 in, and that has a GWP of of course 1…
Much on our own solar power
Durocan did the calculations with me and believes that I can make do with a unit that can supply 4.5 kW of heat for ‘the rest of the house’. Depending on the outside temperature, this requires 1 to 2 kW of power. This can easily be done via a regular socket.
The system will have a buffer tank for 200 liters of water. You can heat that water during the day when the sun is shining, so that you don’t have to draw much power from the grid in the evening to keep your house warm. This way I get maximum benefit from the solar panels on my roof. The central heating water runs through the buffer tank via a closed spiral and thus absorbs the heat from the buffer tank. Shower water is also heated via such a pipe.
Not for every old house
Gijs van Wijk of Thuisbaas, part of Urgenda, warns that CO2 is not always the best alternative. “A pump with CO2 makes water at 70 degrees very well, so suitable for old radiators. But for efficient operation, the water returning from the radiators must be around 30 degrees. If the water enters the radiator at 70 degrees and has to flow out at 30 degrees, the average temperature in that radiator is 50 degrees. That often doesn’t warm up older houses.”
That’s right. I tested it a few years ago by heating my central heating water to 50 degrees and it did not heat the living room. But by using a separate heat pump/air conditioning for the living room and heating the rest of the house less, I can manage just fine at 50 degrees.
More providers?
By the way, Durocan is not the only one with a CO2 heat pump. Vattenfall has also discovered it and has even developed a separate buffer tank to solve the problem of cold return water. Perhaps there will be more providers soon.
Next week I will report how much the pump costs me and how I expect to recoup the investment in six years.
Vincent Dekker writes about innovations and developments in the field of green energy, near and far from home. More episodes ontrouw.nl/vincentwilzon. Vincent also has a podcast, including about heat pumps – listen to it via this link or search for it through the known channels.
Also read:
Even in January, the air conditioning almost runs on solar power
As far as I’m concerned, January has produced a special result: despite short days and low sunlight, my solar panels provided almost enough power to heat the living room with the air conditioning.
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