Commercial Water-Source Heat Pumps

A heat pump is a refrigeration circuit that cools spaces during warm weather and heats spaces during cool weather. With a heat pump at your disposal, you can cool or heat a space by only using electricity. By eliminating the burning of fuel for heating, you eliminate the risk of a fire. There are two types of commercially available heat pumps on the market:

1) air-sourced or air-cooled heat pumps

2) water-source heat pumps

When you turn to NorWest, you can inquire about our heat pumps, as well as our other services available. The number for our office is 718 747 1009. When you call, we can provide you with a no-obligation consultation to go over all of our services and supplies. On top of supplying heat pumps, we also supply gas-fired units. And we are a full-service company that performs maintenance, repair and installation of PTAC units for customers throughout the greater NYC area.

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Air-Source or Air-Cooled Heat Pumps

An air-source or air-cooled heat pump is a type of heat pump that operates by rejecting heat to outside air during the summer or by absorbing heat from outside air during the winter.

Water-Source Heat Pump

A water-source heat pump is a type of heat pump that operates by rejecting heat to a water-pipe system (or water loop) during the summer or by absorbing heat from the same water loop during the winter. If multiple water-source heat pump units are installed, then they can all be services by a common water-loop system. Making their use easy for many people. Learn more about WSHPs and their advantages.

Why Choose Water-Source Heat Pumps

Quieter

With water-source heat pumps, the heat is transferred via a heat exchanger into a pipe that carries water. Overall, the operation is quieter and the system footprint is smaller, since the water is more efficient at carrying away heat than air.

Smaller Size

Another advantage is the size. With an air-source system, the limiting heat-transfer coefficient is on the air side. So, with the water-source heat pump, you get a more efficient piece of equipment, while also being smaller in size than an air-source heat pump.

Easier to Install & Store

A multi-unit water-source heat pump installation can be accomplished with a single, central evaporative cooling tower or dry cooler located on the ground or the rooftop. This water-source heat pump can be placed in dropped ceilings or hidden away from occupied spaces in mechanical rooms or utility closets.

Whereas an air-source unit often requires each air handling unit to have a separate condensing unit. So, for a large, multi-unit system, which is what you will find in a commercial building, multiple condensing units are needed. Units that are not only noisy, but are a challenge to install since they require a lot of free space.

Less Energy Consumption

When you place a water-sourced unit in a ceiling and/or near the point of use, then it results in less ductwork and less fan energy. Thus is consumes less energy. Fan-energy consumption is among the largest energy components of an HVAC system. A good overall system design aims to minimize it.

More Efficient

Water-source heating pumps offer some of the highest efficiencies in the HVAC industry. This higher efficiency is due to the fact that the minimum efficiency requirements for these water-source heat pumps are higher than your traditional air-cooled heat pumps.

Water-source heating pumps are also more efficient at heating when compared to packaged furnace air conditioners. With a furnace unit, the maximum efficiency for heating by burning natural gas is about 95% and electrical heat is 100%. However, when compared to a water-source heat pump, not only is the thermal energy from the water loop being extracted and used, but also the heat of compression in the circuit is captured and then used as a heating source. Due to this heat extracting ability from a heat source to use the heat of compression, a water-source heat pump easily provides 4 to 6 units of heating for every unit of energy consumed.