There has been an upward swing in the use of heat pumps as a supplement to existing water heating systems in South African residential areas and commercial industries, says local heating and cooling solutions provider Fourways Airconditioning South Africa (SA).

Company sales director Wil Jansen says this trend started in 2011 and can mostly be attri- buted to the energy-saving advantage of heat pumps.

“There has been a marked increase in the demand for heat pumps

since the amendments to the National Building Regulations to Introduce Requirements for Energy Usage in Buildings Act was published by Trade and Industry Minster Rob Davies in 2011, requiring all new buildings to have 50% of their hot water supplied by means other than electric-element heating.

“Also, heat pumps heat water at a third – and even at a quarter – of the cost, compared with geysers using electric elements. Project engineers, architects and developers have been recommending heat pumps as the ideal solution for meeting the new energy requirements,” explains Jansen.

He adds that this has sub- sequently resulted in increased demand for additional local manufacturers and distributors of water heating pumps.

Jansen says Fourways Air-conditioning SA has seized this opportunity, supplying heat pumps to residential areas and the hospitality industry.

“There are currently dozens of brands on the market, offering various benefits. We ensure that our clients get the best quality for their money. The bulk of our orders, in addition to dom- estic use, are for hotels, guest- houses and, at times, the mining industry.

For instance, we recently supplied the heat pumps for installation at Hotel Formula 1, in Midrand, where the hotel required a system to replace its previous energy-consuming water heating system with one that has the capacity to reheat 5 000 ℓ of existing storage water within six hours during winter for the 94 rooms,” he elaborates.

Jansen details that they worked with local water heating specialist contractor Solar Heat Exchangers on the project.

“Solar Heat Exchangers installed three 38.5 kW Alliance Heat Pumps, providing a hot water volume of 7 500 ℓ. The system was installed in 2013 and the client has informed us that it has resulted in large savings in water heating costs.

“Following the success of that project, Premier Hotel, also in Midrand, required an 11 000 ℓ heat pump system, which was povided by installing four 38.5 kW Alliance Heat Pumps,” he outlines.

However, Jansen says the introduction to and development of heat pumps in the South African market have not been without challenges.

“Heat pump technology has become common practice only in the last few years and the market still needs to be educated about the advantages of heat pumps. Consumers, developers, project engineers and architects need to be made aware of the except- ional benefits offered by heat pumps in terms of reducing water heating costs.

“In addition, there is a great need to instil the notion that heat pumps can not only save up to 70% or more on water heating costs, but they can also operate at night, in cloudy or wet weather, and are inconspicuous when installed. Another important factor is the correct selection of heat pump size for the task at hand, the quality of the units installed and the after-sales backup,” he maintains.

About Alliance Heat Pumps

Jansen says Fourways Air-conditioning SA uses imported Alliance Heat Pumps for most of its projects. They are manufactured by a China-based air conditioning and heat pump manufacturer.

He explains that Alliance Heat Pumps use R410A gas, which is environment friendly and ensures optimum output, with a water temperature of 60 °C and higher hot water yields, which consumers are currently demanding.

“We have also introduced four-metre-long ‘tube-in-tube’ heat exchangers, with rifled piping, which results in incre-ased heat transfer, greater efficiency and faster heating times,” concludes Jansen.