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Do Air to Water Heat Pumps Provide Air Conditioning?

By Nordic

May 04, 2016

Heat Pump Installation

air to water heat pump
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If you want radiant in-floor heating in your home without the monthly expense of an electric or oil-fired boiler, an air to water heat pump is an energy efficient alternative. Nordic air to water heat pumps have a coefficient of performance of up to 4.00, which means you’ll have the lowest heating bills on your block.

But what about air conditioning when the weather turns warm? Traditionally, air to water heat pumps have only been able to provide you with heating – but that’s not the case with the Nordic ATW Series. Keep reading to find out how you can have radiant in-floor heating and air conditioning too.

Your Air to Water Heat Pump and Air Conditioning

Cooling with an air to water heat pump is not as simple as sending chilled water to your in-floor system. Most experts recommend against cooling an in-floor system because of the risk of condensation forming on the floors. These conditions are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria, mites, and mold. For this reason, most experienced installers shy away from radiant cooling. But there is another way.

If you have an electric or oil-fired boiler in your home, the only way to provide air conditioning would be to install ductwork and a separate air conditioning system.

Fortunately, if you choose an air to water heat pump, you won’t need to install a separate system. With the simple addition of ductwork and our hydronic air handler, you can enjoy whole-home air conditioning directly from your air to water heat pump. Here’s how it works:

How An Air to Water Heat Pump Provides Air Conditioning

Our air to water heat pump is known as a fully reversing heat pump. This means that in addition to making hot water for your radiant in-floor system, it also reverses the refrigeration process to make chilled water. But instead of sending the chilled water to your in-floor system, the air to water heat pump will circulate this cool water to a hydronic air handler.

The hydronic air handler is essentially a heat exchanger and a blower. The heat exchanger will transfer heat in the home’s air to the chilled water. The now cold air in the air handler will be blown through your ductwork as air conditioning. Using this method you can enjoy whole home forced air conditioning.

The heat that was transferred to the water will be pumped back to the heat pump. From there the heat pump will essentially act like a refrigerator, transferring the heat into the outdoor air using refrigerant.

Coming Soon: the Air to Air & Water Heat Pump

Pairing our air to water heat pump with a hydronic air handler is a good way to enjoy air conditioning in your home, but soon you’ll be able to purchase both units in a single product.

This summer we plan to release a unit that will heat water for radiant in-floor heating and heat and cool air for ducted heating and air conditioning, all in one machine. This unit will be the air source version of our Triple Function Series heat pump and will eliminate the need to purchase a hydronic air handler with your air to water heat pump. This air source heat pump will easily heat your home through radiant in-floor heating and also provide air conditioning through ductwork.

This heat pump is not available yet but you can stay up to date on its release by subscribing to our newsletter in the left menu.

Comments

  1. Reply

    Dwight Romberger

    June 02, 2016

    Jordan,
    Great article. I am looking forward to that unit.
    Also, I am looking for a contractor to install and open loop GWSHP in a 300,000 sq. ft. senior care facility in eastern PA. I am having trouble finding one with open loop commercial building experience. Do you or your readers have any suggestions?
    Thanks,
    Dwight

    • Jordann Brown

      June 03, 2016

      Hi Dwight, thanks for reaching out! I got back to you via email, so keep an eye out for that!

  2. Reply

    Darren

    June 14, 2016

    Hi Jordann,
    Great explanation of the system, but I’m actually looking for a little more info and I think you’ll be able to help me out. I’ve been searching but can’t find an answer anywhere yet. So I have two units in my house, i have a 2 ton in floor radiant heat unit and a 3 ton air to water forced unit with a de-super heater. Now, when it’s hot in the summer my forced air unit cools the house(basement vents closed), but my open stairwell welcomes the cold air downstairs and it gets too cold. In response my in floor unit fires up to heat the floor a little. Both units share a closed loop, so my question is are they still efficient when they both run at the same time using same closed loop? To clarify it doesn’t happen often but still happens. In summer i keep my floor set at 18celcius. And upstairs thermo at 22. Sorry if it’s confusing but best i could do to explain. Thanks for your time and i left my email for.

    • Jordann Brown

      June 14, 2016

      Hi Darren,

      If you have one unit cooling and one unit heating with a shared loop, one is rejecting heat into the loop and the other is extracting heat from the loop. Both devices still use electrical energy. In the summer, the loop will be at a higher temperature than in the winter, so the COP of the heating unit will be higher than in the winter.

      If you have any further questions, feel free to email me at info@nordicghp.com.

  3. Reply

    Mark Spurr

    September 01, 2021

    We are building a new home in Nanoose BC and our HVAC contractor is installing your air to hydronic heat pump. During cooling, instead of sending the chilled water to the Hydronic air handler and then through a series of ducts, why can I not send the chilled water directly to a ductless mini split in selected rooms to incorporate air conditioning?

    • Jordann Brown

      September 01, 2021

      Hi Mark,
      There are wall-mounted hydronic cassettes that will accept piped chilled water and deliver air-based cooling in a similar style as a mini-split, so this idea is totally possible! This eliminates the need for ductwork and can provide reasonably comfortable cooling for open concept homes.

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