ᐅ Cooling in summer with an air-to-water heat pump, underfloor heating, and/or a ventilation system?

Created on: 21 Apr 2018 16:39
A
AnNaHF79
Hello,

currently, the installation of an air-to-water heat pump, underfloor heating, and a ventilation system from PLUGGIT is planned for our single-family home.

Now that temperatures are pleasantly rising, it is already getting quite warm in our current older building. Of course, the single-family house will (hopefully) be better insulated and proper shading will be provided, but due to the large glass surfaces, it could still become very warm in the summer.

We are now considering whether we should also provide air conditioning; there seem to be several options:

a) Installation of a different reversible air-to-water heat pump; cooling would then be provided via the underfloor heating system. It is not entirely clear to me how much cooling can be achieved this way, and a condensation sensor is probably mandatory.
b) Installation of the ventilation system with a ground source heat pump to supply cooler fresh air.
c) Adding a dedicated air conditioning unit before the ventilation system?
d) Installation of a “real” air conditioning system along with fan coil units.

Option d) is excluded due to cost; do options a), b), or c) offer anything useful and can be added for a “small” additional cost? a) and b) appear to be the most practical...

For b), PLUGGIT also offers appropriate solutions (products: SWT180 and GTC); not sure about cost/efficiency.

For a), Stiebel probably has corresponding options; also unknown cost/efficiency. The main concern here is that it might only create a “cold spot” on the floor but not actually cool the room in general.

Any opinions?

Thanks.
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stefanc84
23 May 2018 01:44
I didn’t run the ventilation system through the ground, but in my experience, cooling with air doesn’t work as well as expected. For example: 25°C (77°F) inside the house. Outside at night, it’s 8°C (46°F), with the bypass open, meaning the 8°C (46°F) air goes more or less directly into the supply air. Still, the room temperature hardly drops, apparently because the screed and walls—the entire mass of the house—don’t lose the heat stored during the day very quickly.

However, I have no comparison to how it would be without ventilation. Of course, it’s possible that without ventilation, the room temperature might already be at 27°C (81°F).
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GManuel
9 Jun 2018 16:13
Hello,

I have a question regarding my Tecalor 404 THZ Eco air-to-air heat pump installed in the house.

In summer, the underfloor heating switches off automatically due to the summer mode setting.

Would it be possible to raise the temperature for the summer mode so that the underfloor heating activates and the room temperature is set, for example, to 22°C (72°F)?

Wouldn't this effectively result in cooling inside the house if the outdoor temperature was, say, 25°C (77°F)?

I have heard that one needs to watch out for condensation forming on the pipes in the floor, but with only a small temperature difference from the outside...!?
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toxicmolotof
9 Jun 2018 16:33
No, it doesn’t work that way. The heating simply wouldn’t turn on at 25°C (77°F).

However, there are heat pumps that, during summer, can passively store the heat from the house into the ground through the probe without using the compressor. The downside is that the floor then feels cold.
kaho67425 Jul 2018 21:34
We have geothermal heating with a cooling function. It has been 30°C (86°F) outside for days. Inside the house, it stays consistently at 22°C (72°F) – even on the upper floor. We are so happy that we opted for this feature back then.
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Tommes78
26 Jul 2018 09:07
We have an air-to-water heat pump that can also provide cooling. It works. The downside is that the floor becomes cold. Another negative aspect, which is of course system-related, is that the compressor runs continuously and consumes electricity.
kaho67426 Jul 2018 09:10
At 30°C (86°F) outside, I’m really glad to have a cool floor. When you come in from outside, you just want to lie down on the floor. Otherwise, there are slippers. This Friday, temperatures of nearly 40°C (104°F) are expected. Let’s see how effective the cooling will be then.