Heat Recovery Systems Vol. 3. No. 3. pp. 275-276, 1983 Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain.

P R E S S D A T A

HEAT PUMP MARKET GROWS DESPITE RECESSION

THE COMMERCIAL market for heat pumps continues to grow despite the recession, although it has slowed down somewhat from 1979/80, when it was doubling each year. Commenting on the current demand for heat pumps, Bernard Hough, Manager of the Heat Pump and Air Conditioning Bureau, said at the Build Electric Bureau in London on 17 February 1983.

"The major market is still in the retail sector where air-to-air units are replacing conventional air conditioning plant providing both heating and cooling. The other sig- nificant market sector is the use of room unit heat pumps for existing offices. This reflects the present economic climate with very little new office building."

Mr. Hough went on to say that heat pumps primarily for heating had not yet formed a significant part of the market, possibly because of their comparatively high initial cost. However, there was now a growing number of air-to-water installations where the heat pump had been specified instead of the conventional boiler/chiller combination. As ex- perience of this application increases then such units could well become replacement equipment for the existing air-conditioned buildings commissioned during the early 1960s.

"Another area of interest is the use of ground/water source heat pumps and there are now several units being commissioned", said Mr. Hough. "Their coefficient of perform- ance is higher than that of air source units, with fewer noise problems. For the green belt office complex, such systems incorporated into well-designed buildings must show the economic and energy efficient way to providing all-round environmental control."

"In industry, heat pumps are applied to many processes, from drying timber to pre- drying before kilning in the pottery industry", he said. "The use of heat pumps for heat recovery from refrigeration heat rejection or other process waste heat sources, must increase to minimise industry's fuel costs."

Looking at the future of the commercial heat pump market, Mr. Hough concluded: "The growth of heat pumps must depend on the industry's ability to show how it can

solve old problems in original energy effective ways. At present the market growth depends on using heat pumps in the more obvious ways but the future depends on using them in less obvious areas where they will make traditional methods obsolete."

HEAT P U M P FILM

A new film, 'Heat Pumps for Comfort and Economy', explains in simple terms how heat pumps operate, the types of equipment available and four typical applications of some of the different types of packaged systems. Produced for the commercial lay- audiendce, building users and specifiers, the film reflects the dual role of the heat pump in year-round environmental control. This role is to provide the right climate for people to work effectively and shop or take their leisure in comfort while using energy efficiency, so making the best use of all resources.

The film was directed by Eric Beccroft and produced for the Electricity Council by Fleet Street Films. It is 9 min in length and is available on 16 mm film and VHS or U-matic video cassette. 'Heat Pumps for Comfort and Economy', both film and video cassette, is available on free loan from the Electricity Council Film Library.

N EW PUBLICATIONS

A new Electricity Council publication, 'Electric Heat Pumps--what they are and what they can do for you', illustrates many of the points made in the film and is designed to

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bring more understanding to the claims made about the performance and application of heat pumps.

For those who do understand heat pumps, who wish to apply them correctly and want information about the correct design of systems, the Electricity Council has published 'Heat Pumps and Air Conditioning--a guide to packaged systems'. First published in 1968 under the title 'Packaged Air Conditioning', the manual has become a standard reference in the building services industry. This third and latest edition has been revised to reflect the growing importance of heat pumps and includes sections on design criteria, equipment, performance, controls and worked examples of typical applications.

The publications, 'Electric Heat Pumps--what they are and what they can do for you' (single copies free) and 'Heat Pumps and Air Conditioning--a guide to packaged sys- tems' (£5 per copy) are available from the Electricity Council Marketing Department or Heat Pump and Air Conditioning Bureau, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4RD.