
3
8 - Owners Manual
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
3.1 MAIN COMPONENTS
The system components of the
air sourced heat pump that
customers will receive include:
Heat pump Unit, Storage Tank
with PTRV, Controller, Heat pump
mounting legs.
Figure 2: Photo of a Reclaim Energy heat pump hot water system.
3.2 SYSTEM OPERATION
The CO2 heat pump unit receives
cold water from the bottom of
the tank. Using the heat from the
ambient air the heat pump heats
the CO2 refrigerant to generate
hot water. The hot water returning
fromtheheatpumpunit(xed
at63C)isinjectedintothetop
of the tank to provide fast hot
water recovery and excellent hot
waterstratication.Asthissystem
delivershotwaterexceeding50
C,atemperingvalvemustbe
installed for delivery of hot water
to bathrooms. Untempered water
may be delivered to kitchen and
laundry according to AU/NZS AS
3500plumbingcode.
The heat pump operation is
controlled by an external controller.
The controller operates based on
a sensor connected to the tank
at55–69%leveldependingon
tank model i.d. The heat pump will
be turned on if the temperature at
the sensor level on the tank drops
below59Cfortherstcycleor37C
for the second cycle in a day and it
will be run until the tank temperature
atsensorlevelreaches59C.The
system controls are designed to
ensure that it meets the legionella
requirementsasspeciedinthe
Australian standards. The heat
pump will run until the sensor level
onthetankreaches59C.Inthe
subsequent heating cycles of every
24-hour period, the heat pump “turn
off”logicisadjustablebybuilt-in
timer settings.
The default timer setting is
programmed to run on continuous
operationbutthiscanbeadjusted
by the installer based on the home
owner requirements to suit their
needs. More details regarding the
controller operation and settings is
outlinedinSection5.
At ambient temperatures below
5.5C,frostingmayoccur,ifthis
happens the heat pump will go into
defrost mode in order to protect the
unit (i.e. this defrost functionality
will turn the heat pump on and will
normallyrunfornomorethan15
minutes in duration).
When the unit is in the defrost
function the pump and fan will
stop and the refrigerant heat will
defrost the evaporator. As the
defrost advances, the evaporator
temperature will increase.
When a set temperature (pre-
programmed) is achieved, the
defrost operation stops and the
heat pump will operate in line with
its normal settings.
The following system description section provides a brief overview of the
the Air-Source CO2 Hot Water Pump’s main components and functionality.