An air-to-water heat pump installation undertaken by industrial and commercial equipment specialist Advanced Industrial Technology, or Ai-Tec, is reducing the electricity consumption of Burgersdorp Hospital, in the Eastern Cape, by 70%.

The project was completed in September 2012. It cost more than R157 000 and entailed the replacement of a defective electrode boiler that had passed its life expectancy.

The hospital had no hot water for about a month before the Thermowise heat pump was installed.

Ai-Tec business development director Arnold Retief says the hospital currently has a reliable supply of hot water and is benefiting from reduced electricity consumption.

The Thermowise heat pump has a good performance coeffi- cient, as the electrical power consumed is 9.3 kW, producing an energy output of 38 kW, explains Ai-Tec Eastern Cape operations director Danie le Roux.

Direct electrical heating would consume 38 kW of electricity to produce the same energy output.

Retief says, compared with conventional element-powered geysers in industrial and commercial applications, the Thermowise heat pump uses up to 70% less electricity.

The Thermowise heat pump can be installed in any geyser, with capacities from 100 ℓ. The geyser’s elements are replaced with the heat pump, turning it into a storage vessel for the hot water.

Le Roux says the pump draws heat from its environment. Using a refrigeration cycle, it displaces the heat in the air and transfers it to the water circulating through the pump. The water is heated to 55 ˚C in a storage tank.

“The heat pump was con- nected using integral supply and return pipework, including valves, to an existing storage vessel in the plant room at the hospital. “Suitably sized electrical cables were installed to feed the heat pump from the main distribution panel in the plant room,” Le Roux explains.

Old equipment and all the redundant pipework were removed and the plant room was revamped.

The Thermowise heat pump complies with South African Bureau of Standards certification and is designed in accordance with Ai-Tec’s quality and safety standards, as well as its health and safety plan and risk assessment guidelines.

A quality assurance plan also ensured that all aspects of the project met ISO 9001 standards, says Retief.