Decarbonisation is high on the agenda for current housing developments to lower carbon emissions from homes, with the average eco-home capable of cutting energy bills by 30%. Now is the time to act and start changing the way we heat and cool our
homes.
Air source heat pumps currently on the market are very reliable, are quiet in operation and highly energy efficient when compared to oil-fired boilers or electric heaters and can be play a large part in lowering carbon emissions. Further efficiencies can be achieved when linked to smart controllers to produce significant savings for heating and domestic hot water (DHW) provision.
Manufacturers are currently increasing their offering of sustainable energy solutions designed for residential applications. An example is the Panasonic Aquarea air-to water heat pump range, which has one of the widest ranges on the market, with options to suit most sizes of property and output requirements. These heat pumps, together with smart remote control such as the Smart Cloud and Service Cloud, monitoring, fault diagnosis and fault rectification technology provide a comprehensive and energy efficient solution for heating and domestic hot water provision.
Panasonic has long since been a pioneer for creating energy efficient heating and cooling units, and one of its key motivators when developing latest innovations is its Environmental Vision 2050, to ensure a positive contribution to society by reducing the amount of energy used and utilising clean energy.
Panasonic’s air-to-water heat pump range, Aquarea, is an innovative low energy system that uses the lower GWP refrigerant (R32) and provides heating and hot water, even when outdoor temperatures are extremely low. With many sizes, capacities and options to choose from, the Aquarea range offers a very wide choice to ensure the most appropriate system for all sizes of properties and comes in three different versions: Monobloc, Bi-Bloc and All-in-One.
According to independent tests, the Panasonic Aquarea J Generation R32 Mini Monobloc range and 16kW Bi-Bloc T-Cap Super Quiet air-to water heat pumps have been confirmed to have impressively low levels of noise when in operation, with independent tests confirming market leading noise levels of 60dB(A)1 whilst operating at full load.
Marina Village Greystones in Ireland features 358 architecturally designed A-rated homes. All homes were installed with the Panasonic Monobloc Aquarea air-to-water heat pump because of their outstanding A++ energy efficiency rating. This project is more than just environmentally friendly, it’s consistently saving residents up to 50% on their fuel bills, 20% more than the average eco-friendly home is predicted to do.
SMART CONTROLS
Smart solutions, such as the Panasonic Smart Cloud and Service Cloud, can now remotely monitor the suction and discharge pressure of a unit to help reduce system down time, thus ensuring that they have a heating, cooling and hot water system that suits their individual daily needs.
The Panasonic Smart Cloud and Panasonic Service Cloud have been introduced to the industry to enable direct communication between heat pump units and controllers. This integration allows building owners and portfolio managers to view all their heating and cooling units anytime and from anywhere via a single interface and via mobile devices such as tablet, mobile or laptop, plus delivers actionable real time insights to help reduce energy
consumption and drive savings.
Using this smart technology, users can access a detailed breakdown of the system’s energy consumption from 60 minutes to seven days, and schedule the settings to ensure a constant and comfortable temperature throughout. This can help end users compare space utilisation and adjust the system so that energy is not wasted. It is crucial for installers to draw attention to this added value that a smart control system can offer these incredible benefits from the IoT revolution.
In conclusion, by switching to air to water heat pumps to provide heating to our homes such as the Panasonic Aquarea J Generation with R32 refrigerants, housing emissions can be lowered significantly, plus residents can save up to 50% on their fuel bills. Air-to-water heat pumps are the future for the housing sector and an essential step in challenging the climate change problem.
For more information on the Panasonic range of low carbon solutions, visit www.aircon.panasonic.eu
