Under floor heating and heat pump optimization

This project seeks to minimize the gap between the accredited efficiency of a domestic heat pump and the actual efficiency when installed in a household.

The supply temperature is often set too high to guarantee sufficient space heating. A supply temperature higher than needed results in a lower SCOP (annual efficiency). For most heat pumps, the only control and means of reducing the supply temperature is a simple ambient temperature correction, which, however, rarely leads to an optimal supply temperature.

A too high supply temperature also has consequences for the heat emitting system. The volume flow through the system fluctuates due to uncoordinated opening and closing of valves in the system, e.g. manifold valves for an underfloor heating system. The fluctuating flow causes the heat pump to fluctuate in produced heat power resulting in a reduced COP (actual efficiency).  compared to the optimal COP at the actual temperature level. The larger fluctuations, the higher decrease in efficiency. Preliminary results indicate a theoretical potential for improving the COP of an installed heat pump by 15 % by optimizing the volume flow.

The project aims to minimize these problems, by developing controllers for the heat pump and the heat emitting system.