Australian housing project selects CO2 heat pumps, cutting tenants’ costs
Automatic Heating, an Australian provider of heating and cooling systems to the commercial HVAC market, has installed 11 CO2 (R744) heat pumps from Japanese manufacturer ITOMIC at six local Nightingale Housing carbon-neutral apartment buildings, resulting in estimated operational savings for tenants.
A range of 11 ITOMIC CO2 heat pumps has been installed at the six Nightingale Housing projects together with thermal storage and buffer tanks to provide carbon-neutral heating solutions for both hydronic heating and domestic hot water systems.
A mix of 15kW (4.3TR), 35kW (10TR), and 65kW (18.5TR) units were installed – depending on the size and usage of the apartments. The hot water supply is at a maximum 90°C (194°F), according to Koji Morimoto, ITOMIC Overseas Manager.
Finding a carbon-neutral solution was not easy for the Nightingale team. Consultants were nervous about specifying heat pumps, considering Melbourne’s temperate climate raising concerns, according to Jeremy McLeod, Nightingale Housing Founder.
When McLeod met Automatic Heating’s Owner and General Manager Anthony Plaisted, that’s when everything changed. “Plaisted spoke to us about hot water storage as an energy battery,” noted McLeod.” You can have a small CO2 heat pump working longer throughout the day. We can task the heat pump either when our solar is on or off-peak. Anthony helped us redesign a very efficient system.” This made it cheaper for the residents, according to McLeod.