Carel Solutions for Residential Sector driven by Sustainable Comfort

June 30, 2022 4:45 pm

To respond to one of today’s major challenges in the HVAC/R industry, at the upcoming MostraConvegnoExpocomfort  CAREL will be presenting high-efficiency solutions capable of improving indoor comfort in the home, while being friendly to the environment. 

The air conditioning and refrigeration sector on average accounts for 17% of global electricity usage, and an even higher percentage in Europe. Nobody wants to not be comfortable at home, yet reducing energy consumption is a pressing demand, with the recent energy crisis highlighting even more the need to have and produce the cleanest possible energy independently. With this in mind, recent regulations have been introduced aimed at incentivising increases in the energy efficiency of heating and cooling systems, thus minimising the impact on the climate of one of the most essential aspects of our lifestyle through substantial reductions in energy consumption. For residential areas, in particular, the generation and optimisation of energy demand in buildings must be a part of the decarbonisation process. The EU has to this end recently introduced new directives and guidelines, including the F-gas regulation: the short-term goal is that from 2025 stationary air conditioning equipment can no longer use refrigerants with a GWP greater than 150. In the residential heat pump market, R290 gas, commonly known as propane, with a GWP of 3 is now starting to become the dominant choice.

For all these reasons CAREL, together with all the players in the HVAC/R business, now realises how essential it is to continue working on research and development of high efficiency solutions: the evolution of devices and control solutions can bring increases in energy efficiency of more than 40% in the latest generation heat pumps when compared against units equipped with on-off compressors and mechanical thermostatic valves.The technical solutions needed to achieve lower energy consumption involve ecosystems of components that modulate operation to better respond to the variations in temperature/pressure and thermal load throughout the year. Heat pumps need to adapt to seasonal variations, to daily weather conditions, to day/night cycles, and even to variations in the availability of electricity throughout the day.

CAREL’s solutions on show at the exhibition include systems based on the use of electronic expansion valves (ExVs) and the corresponding valve drivers (EVDs). Higher performance can be achieved by then coupling the latest generation inverters (PSD) and DC compressors, available in different sizes and capacities. All this, controlled and coordinated by the smart algorithms embedded in our c.pCO family controllers, brings the applications to the highest levels in terms of efficiency and features. These solutions are compatible with R290: the Power+ driver has been completely re-engineered to meet the certification requirements for compliance with the use of flammable gases. Designed to improve efficiency and optimise the performance of compressors with permanent magnet motors, it has already been tested and is ready to operate with various brands of compressors that use this refrigerant. To date, more than different 330 compressor models are available in the CAREL software libraries. Furthermore, CAREL also develops and supplies, together with its partners, variable-speed hermetic compressors that guarantee the highest level of efficiency. Rotary compressors are especially suitable for optimisation with low GWP, A2L and A3 refrigerants (R32, R290 etc.), thanks to their versatility and efficiency, and therefore represent a concrete and safe alternative for use in heat pump applications.