Arctic Information

How It Works – Arctic Heat Pump

The Arctic Heat Pump is a revolution in heat pump technology that remains unsurpassed in terms of cost and performance. Our Engineers designed this heat pump with a mission to make it the most efficient cold climate heat pump on the market at a price point of ½ of a traditional geothermal heat pump. This was done without any sacrifices to quality. Industry leading parts were mandated in the design of this unit. This includes Variable Speed Pumps, Panasonic EVI DC Inverter Compressors, European Sanhua Valves, and Chico digital control system. All this is harnessed directly into complete weatherproof housing.

Our Arctic Series Cold Climate Heat Pumps are both the most advanced and cost effective air source heat pump on the market, with the ability to heat your home, office, shop, and pool/hot tub. Utilizing the industry leading EVI (Enhanced Vapor Injection) compressors with DC variable speed input, our heat pumps are able to operate continuously in weather as low as -30 C (-22F). Not only will our heat pumps heat your home, they can also cool your home or pool in the summer, while still providing heat for domestic hot water or pools and hot tubs. Our Arctic Heat pumps are both heaters and chillers in one unit!

The efficiency of a heat pump is measured in COP, which is a ratio of energy input vs. energy output. EVI DC Inverter compressors provide the absolute highest COP in the industry. Even in -20 C (-5F), our heat pumps have a COP greater than 2. This effectively means for every 1 Kw of energy the heat pump consumes, it is able to produce 2 Kw of Heat energy. This is effectively cutting your heating cost in half. However, most home owners do not live in constant -25 C (-15F), and our heat pumps get more efficient the warmer it is! At freezing temp (0C / 32F) our heat pumps have a COP of 3.5. This means that for every 1 Kw of input power you can produce 3.5 Kw of Heating energy, reducing your heating bill by 70%!

Integrated Heating Solution

Unlike any other cold climate heat pump system on the market, our Arctic Heat Pump can control your entire home heating and cooling needs including domestic hot water. The heat pump integrates with multiple heating sources such as; radiant floor heating/cooling, central air handlers for forced air, split fan coils for individual room heating, low temperature radiators, and can also integrate to any pool or hot tub to provide full heat with our titanium heat exchangers. The Out Door Unit (ODR) contains everything you need in one case (monobloc). This results in no need to hire a refrigeration mechanic. All you will require is an electrical connection with an outdoor rated disconnect (weatherproof). The system requires 240 VAC connection with a 20, 30, 40 Amp dedicated breaker depending on the size of the Arctic Heat Pump.

Built in Back up

The backup heating circuit in the buffer tank can be automatically controlled from the heat pump itself, making integration with an internal heater simple and effective. The backup heater will be given the signal from the cold weather heat pump only when the heat pump cannot keep up. This ensures you are never wasting energy with two heat sources competing. Our EcoULTRA buffer/boiler tanks have been designed specifically for our cold weather heat pumps that include added features such as extra insulation and internal ports for the temperature probe for more accurate temp readings. These tanks range form 4-29 Kw.

Expandability

Rather than split our production into 5 or 6 sizes, our technology allows us to combine heat pumps together to form larger heating systems as required. With the use of our MX controller you can add up to 10 Heat pumps. Our design works in parallel so each unit has its own pump, but the controller will manage all the heat pumps as if they were one large heat pump.

User Friendly Controller

Unlike other cold weather heat pumps that require direct communication to each zone, Arctic Heat Pumps use simple differential controller logic with a tank thermometer probe included. Our tanks have a special cooper probe port insert both at top and bottom so we can accurately measure the tank. The heat pump will automatically be optimized to reach the design temperature set for the tank. As the weather changes, the heat pump will change as well using only exactly what it needs to keep the buffer tank at the set temperature. It is able to do this by changing the frequency of its DC Inverter Compressor to increase or decrease power as needed.

So how does it work?

Our factory controller system can manage heating or cooling or both simultaneously.

Heating
Cooling
Heating and Cooling
+ Domestic Hot Water (with optional internal HX Coil)

If we have set up Heating the heat pump will turn on and start the circulation pump and heat the buffer tank unit it reaches the desired set point temp. Cooling is done the same way the only difference is the buffer tank is a special foam tank designed so it does not sweat and condensate, When the buffer tank reaches its set cold temperature the heat pump will shut off.

We can also have both heating and cooling set up such as in the summer when you want to cool the house and heat the domestic hot water. In this case we utilize and optional internal HX in the EcoULTRA buffer tank. The is 160 feet of copper and capable of 94-97% efficiency. In this mode (heating and cooling) the Arctic Air to Water heat pump will first heat the hot water buffer tank to ensure there is hot water and then it will activate a 3-way valve and switch to the cooling tank and reverse its function to cooling. If domestic hot water is not needed in the summer, then heating and cooling can be done on a single tank.

What systems work best with Air to Water Heat Pump?

Same as most geothermal units we use R410a environmentally friendly freon and the properties of this refrigeration liquid produce design temperature maximums of 60C (140 F). However, we recommend system design be under 51C (125F) to maximize the heat pump’s performance. As such radiant floor heating is a great source of supply heat for our A-T-W heat pumps. However, we also offer Individual wall mounted fan coils for room zoning. These special Hydronic Fan Coils are designed around the 110-120 F supply water temperature range and can provide both heating and cooling. For central heating and cooling our Hydronic Air Handlers for Heat Pumps can be a great match with the air to water heat pumps as they have a specially designed 6-layer heat exchanger optimized to provide great performance at 120 F or lower.

NOTE: Not ever emitter works well with a heat pump. Older technology air handlers require higher designs temperatures and cast iron boilers will also not work with the lower design temperatures.

Basic Sample Diagrams for Heating and Cooling with Optional Domestic Hot Water

Basic Designs always use a Buffer Tank (recommended EcoULTRA with back up heating element). The Arctic Heat Pump controls the primary pump and the Heat/Cooling selection switching the 3-way valve. All the other demand zones such as the heating loops and cooling zones require their own pumps and controls. However, we can design both the supply (Heat Pump) and the demand (Radiant Zones) for you at no additional cost.

Radiant Heating + Domestic Hot Water

In this system design the buffer tank is always charged with hot water and this glycol/water is circulated as needed through radiant floor loop thought the house. Zone temperature sensors tell the variable speed pump when to turn on off supplying energy to the zones. Multiple zone and multiple manifolds can be used.