A heat pump lifts heat from a low-temperature source — ambient air, water, ground or waste heat — to a higher temperature. Its COP falls as the temperature lift grows; high-temperature industrial heat pumps now reach 150–200 °C.
Pairing heat pumps with hot-water or PCM storage flattens their operation and lets them follow electricity prices.
Key facts
- COP (Carnot)
- T_hot / (T_hot − T_cold)
- Real COP
- ≈ 40–60 % of Carnot
- Sink temp.
- Up to ≈ 150–200 °C
- Sources
- Air, water, ground, waste heat
Heat pump types6
- Air-source
- Water / ground-source
- Waste-heat-source industrial
- Mechanical vapour recompression (MVR)
- Steam-generating heat pumps
- Absorption heat pumps
Integration5
- Waste heat recovery integration
- District heating supply
- Process hot water and steam
- Combined heating and cooling
- Storage-buffered operation
Related calculators
Calculators are available to staff / admin only.
Related topics
- Power-to-HeatElectric boilers, heaters and heat pumps convert renewable or off-peak electricity into heat — directly or into storage.
- District HeatingAccumulator tanks, pits and boreholes let heat networks run CHP, heat pumps, solar and waste heat at the best hours.
- Pumped ThermalA heat pump charges hot and cold reservoirs; a heat engine runs between them to give electricity back.
- Waste Heat RecoveryRecover heat from exhausts, flue gases, kilns, compressors and cooling water — and store it for when it is needed.
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