drive energy

By adding a small amount of drive energy, a heat pump can move heat from a low temperature to a high temperature. This means that the same piece of equipment can be used to remove heat from a space (cooling) at one end while at the same time adding heat to another space (heating).
The most prevalent use of heat pumps is for cooling, e.g. the common household refrigerator or air conditioner, but increasingly heat pumps are also used to upgrade heat to useful heating temperatures. In applications when both heating and cooling are needed this is a win-win situation which virtually doubles the cost-effectiveness of the installation.
According to the International Energy Agency, IEA, the buildings sector needs to reduce its CO2 emissions by over 70 % in comparison with 2010 levels in order to limit the increase in global temperature. The challenge is to achieve this reduction while at the same time energy demand is rising from an increasing number of both residential and commercial buildings. This challenge can be met by the heat pump technology, employing it in a wide range of applications in terms of heating, cooling and air conditioning.  Heat pumps are also a suitable solution for retrofit buildings. Therefore, heat pumps have a large potential in contributing to the reduction of global CO2 emissions.