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The German company Vaillant has developed an aerothermal heat pump that uses propane (R290) as a refrigerant. It can produce between 3.4 kW and 8 kW of heat, and domestic hot water at a temperature of up to 75 ºC. The company claims that the heat pump maximizes savings when combined with rooftop solar.
Vaillant has joined Bosch and Mitsubishi in launching an air source heat pump that uses R290 as a refrigerant.
The Germany-based heat pump manufacturer said its new heat pump is designed for retrofit installations and new buildings.
“Our new aroTHERM plus air-to-water heat pump can also be used in retrofit installations, as it can reach high flow temperatures,” Vaillant said on its website. “Even systems with existing radiators, which require flow temperatures of up to 55ºC, can work efficiently.”
It has a heat output of 3.4 kW and 8 kW, measures between 765mm x 1,100mm x 450mm and 1,565mm x 1,100mm x 450mm, and weighs 114kg, 128kg or 210kg, depending on the variant. The coefficient of performance (COP) varies between 3.9 and 4.6 to heat water at 35 ºC, with outside air up to 2 ºC, and between 5.3 and 5.7 with outside air at 10 ºC.
The pumps are supposed to produce hot water between 22ºC and 75ºC. The new devices can be installed indoors or outdoors, but the 190 liter water tank must be installed indoors.
“The acquisition costs are also comparatively low, as the aroTHERM plus is one of the cheapest heat pumps on the market,” according to Valliant.
Savings can be maximized by combining the heat pump with a photovoltaic installation on the roof. He also noted that the noise level ranges from 54 dB(A) to 59 dB(A) during the day and 46 dB(A) in night mode, which is roughly equivalent to the sound of a refrigerator.
“If the aroTHERM plus is installed three meters away, the sound pressure level is only 29 dB(A), which corresponds to the ticking of a wristwatch,” Valliant said. |
