Promoting the Use of Heat-Pump Type Space and Hot Water Heaters

Heat-Pump Technology

Greatly Reduced CO₂ Emissions Compared to Burning Fossil Fuels

The heat pump system is a technology that cools the air and heats water by extracting the heat stored in the air. Compared to carrying out space and water heating using methods in which fossil fuels such as gas, oil, and coal are directly burned, heat pump systems greatly reduces CO₂ emissions.

Heat-Pump: Mechanism

Promoting the Use of Heat-Pump Type Space and Hot Water Heaters

Bringing More CO₂-Reducing Heat-Pump Type and Gas Combustion Type Space and Hot Water Heaters to the European Market

Daikin is engaged in the development and promotion of hot water heaters and space heaters using energy-efficient heat pump technology.

Policies on the use of renewable energy have been promoted in Europe since late 1990s. In January 2009, the heat pump was recognized in the EU as technology that captures renewable energy and heat pump heaters are being recommended as part of this target. In Europe, which uses a particularly large amount of heating, decarbonization efforts are accelerating with the European Green Deal of 2019. A number of subsidy programs and tax refunds have been announced, leading to the rapid growth of the heat-pump market there.

Daikin released Daikin Altherma, a heat-pump space and water heater, in Europe in 2006. Since then, we have steadily expanded the product lineup based on the climate and needs of every European country. For example, Daikin Altherma 3H HT released in fiscal 2020 for cold regions can supply hot water without use of electric heater even in outdoor temperatures as cold as negative 15 degrees Celsius. It is the only product in the industry that can replace combustion heating with heat pump without modifying an existing home. In fiscal 2021, we released a smaller capacity model.

Sales of Altherma have increased 4.5-fold since fiscal 2014 thanks to our fine-tuned services including installation and maintenance.

Daikin Altherma heat-pump space and water heater for the European market

Product lineup of heat-pump space and water heaters in Europe

Increase proposals of heat-pump space and water heaters in the North American market

In North America, mainstream air conditioners are the ducted type, which has ducts that run through the ceilings and sends air to an entire building from an indoor unit. The majority use gas combustion as the heat source, while the ratio of heat pumps in the market is about 30%. Amidst this background, in 2021 the US government has announced an environmental policy that aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The momentum for energy conservation is anticipated to rise even in the market of space and hot water heating.

To meet this demand, Daikin will focus its efforts on proposing and promoting products using heat pumps. Our first approach began with the West Coast and Northeastern states that are environmentally advanced, starting with activities to promote understanding of heat pumps.

The Daikin FIT Heat Pump, a residential heat pump for the unitary market sold in North America

Promoting Residential Water Heaters and Floor Heaters in Japan

In Japan, water heaters account for 25% of all residential electricity consumption, thus there is a need to switch over to systems with minimal environmental impact to control global warming.

Daikin's heat-pump technology is incorporated into ECOCUTE heat-pump water heaters and Hot Eco-Floor heat-pump hot-water floor heaters. We have continued to update models to improve energy savings, such as by incorporating the ability to communicate with a home energy management system (HEMS), and promoting the use of renewable energy. On the other hand, we have commercialized replacement heat source units that can improve energy savings on existing units through partial upgrades.

In fiscal 2021, we increased the capacity of the heat exchanger on the outdoor units of household ECOCUTE models, which improved the annual performance factor (APF) by 0.2 to 0.3 points compared to conventional models. Moreover, in December 2021, we launched the industry’s first household heat-pump water heater that boils during daytime^* using excess solar power. In the future, we will develop products with even greater environmental features, such as equipment with the function of boiling time management with prediction of the amount of solar power generation.

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The ECOCUTE model automatically boils hot water daily to be stored in the hot water tank.

Promoting Highly Energy-efficient Products Including the MEGA-Q Large-Scale Heat-Pump Hot Water System in the Japanese Commercial Market

In Japan, we are marketing space and hot water heaters for the commercial market as well using highly energy efficient heat-pump technology.

For example, we began selling a new model of the commercial heat-pump water heating system (MEGA-Q) for large-scale facilities such as hotels and hospitals. Compared to gas-combustion type, the updated model in 2012 releases about 60% fewer CO₂ emissions and is able to reduce running cost by about 60%. Facilities like hospitals and golf courses require changing volumes of hot water daily, and Daikin meets this challenge with a hybrid hot water supply system that provides hot water during base periods with MEGA-Q and that switches to boiler operation during peak periods. In addition to commercial applications such as these, we will come out with products for processes in factories that must urgently respond to environmental requirements.

Comparison of Annual CO₂ Emissions: MEGA-Q Large-Scale Commercial Heat-Pump Water Heating System versus Combustion-Type Boiler