Daikin introduces Altherma |
Altherma, the new home heating, sanitary hot water and cooling solution with high energy efficiency.
Market for advanced low temperature heating systems booming
With fossil fuel and electricity costs soaring, homeowners are looking for more efficient technologies to heat and cool. A clear trend in the market to meet this need is low temperature heating systems. Technological advancements and improved home insulation mean that lower water temperatures can be used to heat homes, resulting in increased heating comfort and improved energy efficiency.
One particular low temperature solution that has already proven its worth in the cold winters of Northern Europe is heat pump technology. Daikin, an industry leader in heat pump technology with more than 40 years of experience, is introducing Altherma, a heat pump based home heating, sanitary hot water and cooling solution with high energy efficiency.
Free energy
Instead of burning fuel as do conventional fossil-fuel boilers, heat pumps extract the latent heat energy present in the ground, air or water. The Altherma air-to-water system is capable of extracting sufficient heat from the outside air to comfortably heat a home, even on the coldest days of winter. While traditional boilers can only achieve energy efficiencies of less than 1, Altherma delivers energy efficiencies of 3 or more. The result is less primary fuel consumption and reduced CO
2 emissions. Altherma connects to all standard low temperature radiators and floor heating elements and is suited to both new constructions and renovations.
Easy and flexible installation
Altherma’s installation is easy and flexible. No chimneys, fuel tanks or gas connections are required. Its main components are an outdoor unit and an indoor hydro-box. The compact outdoor unit can be placed outside houses and apartments, both existing and new, even when space is limited. The heat pump extracts available heat from the air, upgrades it and sends it to the indoor hydro-box where the heat is transferred to warm water that is pumped to radiators and floor heating elements. The compact hydro-box requires no separate technical room and contains all the system controls and the user interface.
Sanitary hot water and cooling options
A sanitary hot water option is available that takes full advantage of heat pump efficiency while providing hot water of 65º C or more. This is accomplished via a purpose built sanitary tank that is heated in the lower part by water pre-heated to 55°C from the heat pump. An electric booster heater located in the upper part of the stainless steel tank boosts the temperature further to the required levels.
A cooling option of the hydro-box is available. Moderate cooling is achieved by circulating cooled water through radiators and underfloor heating system. The hydro-box can also be set to provide maximum cooling down via fan coil units.
Reliable and efficient year round comfort
In addition to the added efficiency and reduced emissions due to the extraction of free heat from the outside air, the system boasts proven reliability and low maintenance. Altherma provides sufficient home comfort year round, even in the coldest climates. The most popular configuration dimensions the heat pump to handle the full heating load for 90-95% of the year and makes use of a back-up electric heater to handle 5-10% of the load on the coldest days. This option typically results in the best balance of installation costs and ongoing energy consumption, as evidenced by its popularity in Sweden and Norway.
The heat pump can also be dimensioned to provide full heating capacity on its own and can be connected to (existing) fossil-fuel boilers to optimise energy efficiency of the total system. Connection to other alternative energy sources such as solar energy for warm water production is also possible.
