Empirical platform data analysis to investigate how heat pumps operate in real-life conditions.

Heat pumps have been widely acknowledged, by academia and industry, as highly efficient thermal energy technologies, for space heating and domestic hot water production. However, there is a lack of information about real performance in residential single family houses with active participation of end-users. In this paper, an analysis based on data from 242 heat pump installations in Denmark gathered over a period up to 4 years (2010 until today) is performed. COP, operating temperatures and socio-demographic data are used as basis for comparing theoretical and actual performance. Six different heat pump configurations are considered depending on source (ground or air) and sink (radiators, floor heating and/or combined systems). This unique study intends to point out the benefits and limitations of such technologies in terms of energy efficiency and comfort delivery, as well as investigating the suitability of heat pumps to support fossil-fuel free energy systems.