The cold climate heat pump testbed at the SyracuseCoE HQ consists of an outdoor platform for installing an outdoor unit (e.g., an air-to-water heat pump for heating and/or cooling, or an EnergyPOD with integrated heating, cooling, heat recovery ventilation, and domestic hot water heating), an indoor hydronic test stand for simulating the indoor space loads, and transfer lines between the outdoor unit and the hydronic test stand.
The hydronic test stand has two loops connected to a water-to-water heat exchanger. It enables the user to record the energy balance across the loops quantifying BTU performance across varying environmental conditions outside. It measures the heat transfer between two water loops. One loop, a Test loop consisting of a supply and return, and a second Load loop. The Test loop is connected to the supply and return of an air-to-water heat pump (installed on the outdoor platform of the testbed). The load loop is plumbed to the SyracuseCoE HQ building’s hot and cold supply and returns as well as a separate connection for an optional 3rd water source. The supply and returns are valved in such a way as to provide hot or cold loads. The loops are isolated by the water-to-water heat exchanger. The stand is instrumented with the calibrated flow and temperature measurements and data collection as well as a visual display.
The testbed is currently used for testing an exterior-installed residential EnergyPOD for heating, cooling, energy recovery ventilation, and domestic hot water supply.