Thermodynamic water heater as air conditioning

[Forhorse]

Hello everybody

There seems to be no discussion on this subject so I would like to have the points of view and feedback on this subject.
The idea is not new, a thermodynamic water heater is a heat pump and it therefore rejects fresh / cold air which must be usable to cool a house / room in summer. Some have done it and it seems to work (I found at least one video on youtube)

For the context, I am thinking about the development of a small "official accommodation" of a small farm. I am at the question of the production of hot water (for housing but also for certain activities of the exploitation so a consumption which without being "industrial" will be higher than that of a normal family) and I preselected 3 production methods:
- The good old electric cumulus: cheap to buy, good lifespan, but €€€ consumption and theoretically prohibited in new homes (even if in my case it is not applicable)
- The solar water heater: "significant" investment, good lifespan, average consumption with a rather long return on investment currently (around 15 years)
- Thermodynamics with an average investment but an unknown lifespan (planned obsolescence?) And an average to low consumption ...?

Given the needs and my feedback, I would have preferred solar. However 2 problems: no suitable location for the collectors (roof with a non-optimal orientation, no possibility of installation on the ground without a very important mask) and the periods when the greatest need for hot water is made are also the one at a CESI does not produce much or nothing ...

The electric cumulus does not provide any advantage apart from its purchase price and since the consumption of hot water may not be reasonable, the electricity bill will quickly erase the gain made on the investment.

So there remains thermodynamics, which I'm not a fan of mainly for reasons of durability, but which seems to be the best compromise.

The idea is therefore that for reasons of space, the balloons will be placed in an attic, not far from the bedroom of the accommodation.
The bedroom is a room under the roof and I know from experience that this kind of room, even well insulated, quickly become unlivable ovens (and especially "indormable") in summer in periods of heat waves.
Considering the distance between the balloon and the room (about 4m) it is easy, via a ventilation duct, to bring the fresh air from the balloon into the room or just next to it to "cool" the room a little.
As nothing has yet been done or decided, it is even possible to place a double pipe to "extract" the air from the room to the balloon in order to improve still a little, I think, the efficiency in air conditioning?

And while we are there, the accommodation will certainly be heated with wood or with a pellet stove, so is it relevant to create an air duct network with a "summer" position and a "winter" position with
- In summer: air intake and return in or near the room.
- In winter: air intake in the room with the stove and return to the outside
To improve comfort in summer and the performance (and therefore savings) of the balloon in winter?

Knowing that everything could be automated (Arduino, home automation, etc ...) so that the places of air intake and return face each other optimally according to the housing / bedroom / outside temperature.
It is easy to plan and now create the aeraulic network necessary for this use now. When the housing is built, it will be much more difficult / impossible ...

I also wondered about the pressure drops in the air pipes, if it was relevant to build such a network, are they not detrimental to the efficiency of the heat pump of the tank (no doubt that the ventilation of the units? integrated are not intended for that) so is it necessary to "help" with for example a "charge" fan on the side of the air intake?

So there you have it, sorry for the pavement, but if you have any opinions or feedback on a similar installation, I'm interested.

[thibr]

like this

[Forhorse]

So no one has done an installation like this but a little more advanced?

[sicetaitsimple]

So no one has done an installation like this but a little more advanced?

Not for my part, no experience to share with you, but I find the idea very interesting.

The only limitation I see is that your water heater will normally operate for quite a few hours per day in the middle of summer, when the air conditioning needs are needed, especially as you tell us "the periods when the greatest need for hot water is also when a CESI produces nothing or very little ..., so rather in winter.

But as you say, provide a few meters of ventilation duct if it's done from the start it's nothing, in my opinion it's worth a try, it will certainly not be "perfect", but even refresh a bit of a room located in the attic is indeed appreciable.

For the pressure drop aspect, it is already necessary to see what are the recommended values ​​for the diameters and lengths of the discharge pipe in the case of an installation of a "classic" water heater, perhaps that the installation such as that you envision it will fit into these dimensions. And you can also (if possible) make it a little bigger, that will limit the pressure drops and certainly the noise.

[let's save]

Hello,
Thank you for this very interesting information. For my part, when I moved into a house in the Lyonnais basin. It is in a subdivision built by a developer. And since it's a recent housing estate, they really care about the environment and the planet. In particular, we had a heat pump installed, in order to save electricity, and above all to pay attention to the environment. In the North, they are still further ahead than us, particularly in the recycling of container houses.