Efficiency characterization of heat pumps

Testing the efficiency factor of a heat pump unit is fundamental for manufacturers and installers who want to provide their customers with a safe and highly efficient solution. The Heat Pumps Lab of Eurac Research is therefore available to manufacturers and experts for stationary and dynamic heat pumps testing.

The laboratory can be part of a collaboration between research and industry: dynamic testing, for example, is of great use during the developmental phase of a product, as it may detect possible malfunctions or inefficiencies during the part load operation, which otherwise might not be apparent until the product is in use.

Recently we had the pleasure to perform some tests for the client Solgen, a Polish PV and heat pumps systems installer, part of the ORLEN Group.

The objective of the work performed by Eurac Research was to provide the client the performance assessment of an air to water heat pump according to EN 14511:2022 and EN14825:2022 for the average climate and medium temperature application.

In order to characterize the nominal performance of the unit our researchers first performed a test in heating mode according to UNI EN 14511‐3:2022. As a further activity, they performed a second test for the measurement of the part load performance and seasonal efficiency calculation according to UNI EN 14825:2022.

All the tests were performed in a climatic chamber and double calorimeter which allow the establishment of variable, real-like operating conditions.

More information about our laboratory here