THE PERFECT FIT

Stainless Steel Fire Tube Heat Exchanger

Time Saving Boiler and Gas Connections: Left or Right Side

Caleffi 548 Series Separator and Air Elimination

DHW Combi Units have Top Connection and 5+ GPM

Stainless Steel Coil Tank

1” Boiler Connections

Top DHW Connections 3/4” (30-60) 1” (80-120)

Factory Included: T&P Valve and 1/4 Turn Drain Valve

Continued from page “13” homes that utilize radiant heating are being told they need to reduce emissions. The best solution would be to utilize your current system and include a hydronic heat pump into the mix. Here you can also make domestic hot water at the same time,” said DesRoches.

Heckbert also explains that having an adaptable system is an important step in adopting heat pumps. He adds, “We still have gas appliances, and we know there are still gas appliances in people’s homes. Air-to-water heat pumps can work with the gas appliances in a hybrid system, and in the future, homes can utilize hybrid systems by adding a heat pump to their current setup.”

Retrofits may be the best solution, but even retrofits can cause some challenges for now use a hydronic coil.” homeowners and contractors. Referring back to DesRoches’s comments on how a hydronic heat pump operates with smaller Delta T’s, he further explains that, “Contractors might be restricted in how they can integrate a hydronic heat pump into a home because you’re limited with the amount of flow that you can carry through the existing pipes in the building. So that needs to be taken a closer look at.”

In addition, not all homes are suited for a retrofit. “For example, my house was built in the late 80’s, and we have a furnace installed.

According to a recent BC Hydro survey, over 30 per cent of Canadians don’t understand how a heat pump works and would be less inclined to upgrade to a heat pump versus a traditional fossil fuel furnace. Making sure contractors are well informed and up-to-date with the technology is critical in advancing the adoption of this technology as, “There is a lot to know about this technology, and contractors need to know that the way you size a hydronic heat pump is different than how you size a boiler,” said DesRoches.

We wanted to convert that into a heat pump system, but it would be very costly for my whole house to retrofit. Going from nothing hydronic to all hydronic would mean pulling up the floors and putting radiant floor heating down.” Miller adds that the solution for his house was to replace the furnace with a hydronic coil, “Instead of using a flame or refrigerated coil to heat or cool my air, we

Miller also adds that, whenever a contractor is trying to determine which type of hydronic heat pump will work best for a customer, “You must always start with a proper heat and cooling load analysis on every structure and determine the amount of energy that’s required to heat a house on the coldest day and cool the house on the hottest, and this is for any heating or cooling equipment.” :