Cold Climate Heat Pump (CCHP) Redesign

ORNL will collaborate with Emerson Climate Technologies to optimize the design of a prototype residential cold climate heat pump (CCHP) and reduce the overall cost of the system. The previous CCHP design would have been positioned to enter the residential market from an energy performance and reliability viewpoint. However, its cost, manufacturability, and serviceability needed further improvements to make the CCHP a viable product. Based on the laboratory and field observations, ORNL estimates that they can achieve a 20% heat exchanger cost reduction with minimal impact on the efficiency.

The performance goal of this project is to deliver a field-test-ready residential, air-source heat pump, able to reach a heating seasonal performance factor (HSPF) greater than 12.0 and a seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) greater than 16.0 with a rated capacity of 2 to 3.5 tons.

Project Impact

In the U.S., there are approximately 3.5 million dwellings that use an electric furnace or heat pump for heating in very cold and cold regions.1 These homes consume approximately 0.18 quads of energy annually for heating.2 Using a high-performance CCHP for heating could result in significant savings over current technologies. Assuming replacement of electric heating with a high-efficiency CCHP, the annual primary energy savings could be 0.12 quads.