DESC0024969

Heat pump adoption is slowed by high total cost, including the costs of installation and distribution. This heat pump joining technology allows easy installation without specialized tools. The ease of installation lowers the total cost of a heat pump for modular and panelized construction, panelized retrofit applications, tiny homes, and accessory dwelling units. In Phase I the heat pump design will be further simplified by redesigning the form factor of the outside unit so that individual components may be easily lifted and snapped into place, further reducing the time and skill required to install. This modularization also allows for individual removal of components for service, replacement, and upgrade, additionally reducing life cycle costs for the homeowner. In Phase I of the project design activity will result in a modular design of the exterior unit comprising two or three components arranged for optimal installability in offsite construction. A heat exchanger of either tube and fin or microchannel design with an optimized form factor will be commissioned based on design specifications. The components will be fabricated into a prototype that will demonstrate targeted efficiency and installability for the intended markets. Airflow and thermal characteristics will be documented. Costs based on an estimated bill of materials will be analyzed vs market needs. Offsite construction can be a major enabler of affordable housing in the US and has the potential to address not only high cost of housing but also homelessness when cities implement tiny home villages. The growth of these markets is held back by a number of factors, one of which is lack of targeted technical solutions for space conditioning. A targeted solution has the potential to remove bottlenecks in these construction segments, accelerating the availability of affordable housing by removing cost and time bottlenecks.