GORENJE brings advanced heat pump solutions to fast developing market

While new for some, heat pumps are hardly a novelty for Gorenje. As a renowned home appliance manufacturer and one of the leading innovation - and development - minded companies in this part of Europe, Gorenje has been manufacturing sanitary heat pumps since the 1980s. Back then the energy crisis was making itself felt, and we were first becoming acutely aware of the scarcity of fossil fuels. Today, this issue is addressed nearly every day – certainly by anyone undertaking the construction of a new house or the restoration and refurbishment of an existing one.

Continually rising fuel prices alongside technological advancements in heat pump technology (improved coefficient of performance) have made them a justifiable and rational choice. Increased environmental awareness has played a big part as well. As a result, Gorenje launched the distribution, planning, and sale of heat pumps by reputed German manufacturer more than a decade back, which have proven durable and reliable. Gorenje, too, has been known for years as a provider and manufacturer of sanitary heat pumps that contribute considerably to savings at home. Employing the knowledge and technology, various Gorenje departments and experts were actively engaged in promoting a general awareness of the advantages of the heat pump principle. In some European countries,particularly in Scandinavia, heat pumps have long been well established and widely used. While standard in Scandinavian and other European countries for decades, heat pumps are only gradually making their way into homes in SE Europe.

Six decades of experience in refrigeration

Particular aspects of the development processes in refrigeration and heat pump technology coincide. In this way, Gorenje, one of the market leaders in large appliances, was able to build upon 60 years of tradition and experience in refrigeration technology development. "We drew on the knowledge and experience of our experts who have been involved for years in the development of new products for the Gorenje brand”, offers Mr. Darko Gorjup, head of Gorenje NES, Advanced Energy Systems. “We designed a cutting-edge measurement track that enables testing according to European EN14511 standards for room heating heat pumps, and EN 255/3 for sanitary heat pumps. This measuring track for heat pumps is intended for the testing and measuring of heat pump capacity and other characteristics. An additional chamber is available for testing, providing standard conditions for the testing of air/water heat pumps with a capacity up to 30 kW, as well as for testing heat pumps for sanitary water. A cooling power unit with an output capacity of 100kW is used to simulate sources and loads, combined with water from the building's heating system. The measurement lab is designed according to all effective regulations and standards.

AQUAGOR - WATER/water heat pumps

Water/water heat pumps are among the most efficient heating systems available. The heat from groundwater is a highly reliable and constant energy source with a temperature between +7°C and +13°C. One of the key components of AQUAGOR heat pumps is the spiral heat exchanger made of stainless steel that offers excellent protection from corrosion and sedimentation on the heat exchanger walls.

Implementation of a AQUAGOR heat pump requires drilling two boreholes into the ground: primary borehole (well) for pumping the water and secondary borehole for returning the water to the ground. Based on experience, optimum distance between the primary and secondary borehole is approximately 15 meters. A part of the energy stored in the water pumped from the ground is recovered and the water is returned to the ground, cooled by 2°C to 4°C, without causing any chemical change to the water whatsoever.

Aquagor heating pums range from 6.4 up to 17.7kW of heating power, rated heat output form1,21 up to 3,16 kW and with coeficient of performance up to 5.7.

TERRAGOR - BRINE /water heat pumps

Brine/water heat pumps make use of the energy accumulated in the ground. Energy is extracted from the ground through a ground collector installed over a suitably large area. In the brine/water heat pump system, minor adjustments can also be made to allow passive cooling. In this case, relatively low soil temperature is used to cool the rooms. During passive cooling, the heat pump is not in operation, which allows minimum energy consumption.

TERRAGOR heat pumps are highly economical and they reach COP values over 4.5. The models come in different heating power range from 6 up to 17kW with rated heat output from1,40 up to 3.70kW.

AEROGOR - AIR /water heat pumps

Air/water heat pumps make use of the energy stored in the air around us. They operate efficiently even at temperatures down to -20°C. Relative to other versions, less construction work is required and the equipment can be installed swiftly. The quality of make and cutting-edge technology allow high energy efficiency of these devices.

A silent axial fan pumps large amounts of air through the evaporator which is installed outdoors, separately from the heat pump agregat. Combination of evaporator and fan allow operation that is not disturbing for the environment, and generates high yields. Internal (indoor) heat pump unit is installed within the building. Such system prevents any freezing danger to the external unit even in cases of prolonged power supply failure. High-performance regulation allows running several heating circuits through outdoor temperature and provides optimum defrosting of the outdoor unit.

Heat pumps AEROGOR are ideal for use in bivalent systems with two heating sources and coordinated operation. The air/water heat pump consists of an indoor and outdoor unit. Three variations of outdoor unit are available: facade panel, metal sheet, and wood.

Heat pumps AEROGOR reach heatig power up to 12,2kW, rated power output 3,59kW and coeficient of performance up to 3,9.

Intelligent electronic control

Energy-efficient operation of a heating system depends above all on an effective control system that the heat pump is fitted with. Intelligent electronic control units in Gorenje heat pumps monitor the operation of the equipment according to the external input-output parameters, steering the circulation pumps, mixing valves, immersion pumps, shut-off valves, etc.

Basic regulation supports two independent heating circuits – one direct and one mixing circuit. For each circuit, the heating curve is set independently. Basic regulation also supports heating of sanitary water with anti-Legionella program, as well as alternative sources such as solar panels or wood-fired furnaces. It also allows hassle-free regulation of additional sources such as a heating oil or gas burner.

Electronic controls are universal for all types of heat pumps and heating methods. In case of major systems, upgrading the basic regulation unit is quite straightforward. For advanced users, controls can also be routed through interfaces to a personal computer or even to an intelligent home system.