High Performance Cold Climate Heat Pump (CCHP) – Final Report

In the U. S., there are approximately 2.6 million dwellings that use electricity for heating in very cold and cold regions with an annual energy consumption of 0.16 quads. A high performance cold climate heat pump (CCHP) would result in significant savings over current technologies (> 70% compared to strip heating). It can result in an annual primary energy savings of 0.1 Quads when fully deployed, which is equivalent to 5.9 million tons of annual CO2 emissions reduction. The outcome of this project is the development of a split system, cold climate heat pump (CCHP) providing 36,000 Btu/hr (10.6 kW) heating capacity with a COP > 4.0 (at the 47°F (8.3°C) AHRI rating condition) and maximum efficiency degradation of 50% and capacity loss of 25% at -13°F (-25°C) ambient conditions. Between 2012 and 2015, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Emerson Climate Technologies engaged in a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to develop a high efficiency, cold climate heat pump for the US residential market. We went through an exhaustive technologies survey to select energy efficient and cost-effective components. We conducted in-depth engineering design and building energy modeling, based on the ORNL Heat Pump Design Model (HPDM) and EnergyPlus, by which we made the final choices.