Ireland-based heating technology manufacturer Trane has released an air-to-water heat pump for residential and commercial applications.
Called Leaf, the new product uses propane (R290) as a refrigerant, which the manufacturer said has a direct global warming potential (GWP) of 0,02 and zero ozone depletion potential (ODP).
It features heating and cooling capacities ranging from 8 kW to 30 kW.
“Trane LEAF excels in diverse conditions achieving elevated hot water temperatures in low outdoor air conditions,” the company said in a statement. “Operating optimally down to -20 C outdoor air, it delivers elevated hot water at over 75 C even at 0 C outdoor air and over 60 C at -15 C ambient temperature, making it an ideal solution for replacing gas boilers in light commercial and residential buildings.”
The manufacturer explained the new system can be scaled up in a modular approach with up to four units.
“The integration of Building Management System connectivity via Modbus TCP/IP or RTU enhances control and monitoring capabilities, providing users with advanced and seamless management options,” it added, noting that the heat pump is also equipped with a full inverter-driven scroll compressor, electronic expansion valve, and EC brushless fans.
“In response to the evolving landscape of Climate and Sustainability trends, Trane LEAF aligns with regulatory changes, such as the revised European Union F-Gas Regulation, addressing concerns related to the greenhouse warming impact and decomposition of existing fluorinated refrigerants,” the company stated.
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Great!
This sounds like what we would need in our house, since we heat with hot water through baseboard radiators. The furnace us fired by heating oil, a very expensive fuel. However, we also have a relative new A/C system with ducting to all rooms except the living/dining room (a seriously thick stone floor there must have dissuaded HVAC installers from running ducts there. We really like the even heat from the baseboard radiators.
Can the new Trane unit run hot coolant to radiators and cold coolant to current air-handler? Thanks.
Is it cost efficient though or only for the super rich? Isn’t propane expensive?
Propane is used as a refrigerant gas, not a fuel.
So there’s only a few pounds of it within the sealed system.
It’s much less costly than traditional “Freon” that also damages atmospheric ozone.
The “fuel” is electricity, not propane.
It doesn’t burn any propane. It uses electric and uses propane as the refrigerant to transfer the heat from outside to the inside.
What’s with the Modbus?
BACnet would be much more useful or Wifi with an API connection.
“…it delivers elevated hot water at over 75 C even at 0 C outdoor air and over 60 C at -15 C ambient temperature”. No mention of the flow-rate it can maintain though. I’m not interested in having a mere trickle of water at high flow-temps. I’d need a full normal flow-rate at those outdoor temps to get me interested. So the word ‘delivers’ is important. If just a trickle, this claim of ‘delivers’ is still valid although it would be terribly misleading…