Heat pumps continue to be an increasing trend to be able to heat and cool air and liquid efficiently. In a heating application, heat pumps work by extracting heat from the surrounding air, ground or water and transferring it to a refrigerant coolant. The coolant is then compressed, which significantly increases its temperature and transferred to the location designated for heat. Heat is then extracted by either running air or water over the hot coolant. In the past, heat pumps had been used primarily in air conditioners and freezers, but now they are being used increasingly for residential and commercial heating and to heat domestic hot water.
Heat pumps are more efficient than traditional electric heating because they are using electricity to operate the compressor, pump and fans vs a resistive heat source. Contributing to CO2 emission reduction, heat pumps are more environmentally friendly compared with other sources of heat, such as furnaces or boilers.
For heat pumps to operate properly, their program logic controller (PLC) needs temperature inputs from multiple locations throughout the system. Depending on the purpose of the heat pump, these could include temperature readings of outdoor air, indoor air and refrigerant at multiple locations.
Learn more about Sensata's Temperature Sensors in Heat Pump Applications solution.