DHW Heat Pumps – Selection Criteria
What are domestic hot water heat pumps?
A heat pump works by extracting heat from the environment and using that energy to heat water. In the case of a domestic hot water heat pump, the environment the heat pump extracts heat from is typically the room it is installed – for example, a storage room, boiler room or larder.
They need some electricity to run, but because their heat output is higher than the electricity input, they are highly efficient, low carbon hot water heating systems.
For more details and a general overview of what these products are, please see our Product Guide. For heat pumps that provide space heating as well as hot water please see our pages for Heat pumps for space heating.
Introduction
This page details the selection criteria applied to domestic hot water heat pumps on toptenuk.org. A domestic hot water heat pump is a heating system solely dedicated to the production of hot water for direct use (i.e. not for space heating). Any fuel type (gas, oil, electricity etc.) can power these products, however for the time being; only electric heat pump type systems are considered in this list. Of these, only products that reach the minimum criteria specified below are displayed on the website.
Selection Criteria
The minimum criteria to be shown on toptenuk.org is shown in Table 1 which covers energy performance metrics.
Table 1: Current selection criteria for water heaters.
Criteria | Eligibility |
Energy Measurement | Must be measured according to EN16147:2011 |
Energy Class | A+ |
Relevant Regulations & Standards
The following regulations were the basis for the above selection criteria for electric water heaters.
EN16147:2011
This standard details the testing requirements for electrically driven heat pumps for domestic hot water. Heat pumps must be tested using this to qualify for the topten website. This has been superseded by EN16147:2017 which is a revised version of this standard.
Glossary Average Efficiency
Links
EU regulation for energy labelling of water heaters, hot water storage tanks and packages of water heater and solar device;
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02013R0812-20180426&qid=1603278322288