As we continue forward in the 21st century, one of our biggest undertakings is the electrification of utilities across homes and businesses. “Electrification” is essentially replacing fuel burning appliances with more efficient electric alternatives. One of the most exciting new technologies in this frontier is the Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH), which can obtain a very high Coefficient of Production and offers savings in the form of efficiency.

Since multifamily housing contributes to a significant portion of overall domestic hot water usage, replacing the standard fuel reliant central water heating plant with a HPWH alternative can make a major impact on fuel reliance, with the added benefit of reducing overall grid load thanks to the higher efficiencies achieved.

Readers of this blog probably already know about the SANCO2 system of HPWH that use CO2 refrigerant, which work great for single family installations, and have great potential in multifamily projects as well. To further improve the multifamily benefits and alleviate some of the design and installation difficulties, Small Planet Supply has teamed up with Ecotope and the Bonneville Power Association. Together we aim to put together a drop in solution for replacing the standard Central Hot Water Plant using the SANCO2 system as the base! The idea is simple; provide a plug and play system of components appropriately sized for domestic hot water needs that is easy to install, reliable, and with a single point of contact for purchasing and parts.

Looking ahead at the new year we can see evolving energy codes, decarbonization policies, and emerging technologies to meet these changes. The SANCO2 Central Heat Pump Water Heater (CHPWH) system hopes to be at the forefront of these changes and offers solutions to many problems builders and property owners may face. One of the primary differences of this system when compared to conventional central hot water plants is the emphasis on hot water storage rather than heating capacity. Conventional systems oversize heating capacity to meet demands, which is more costly than simply storing the proper amount of hot water for demand. By using the single pass design of the SANCO2’s heat pump and coupling it with large volume storage tanks, hot water demands can be met while also taking advantage of load shift technologies, meaning the system isn’t drawing energy during peak demand hours. 

Offering the system as a plug and play package eliminates the need for multiple sub-contractors and eases the installation stresses by ensuring correct components are used and assembled properly. This also adds to the reliability of the system and makes any future questions or repairs easy to answer from a single source, us. Easier, more reliable installation will also help offset higher initial costs of the system, and the reliability and efficiency of the system lead to even more long-term savings over the life of the system.

Builders and designers can look forward to these systems and incentives for using them arriving in 2021. In the meantime, take the opportunity to learn more about the SANCO2 systems. We offer a 3-part course on out Small Planet University Thinkific learning platform and you can read our previous blog post on SANCO2 DHWHP to learn more about the specific benefits of these systems in a multifamily building.