Electrek spoke with Heidi Gehring, associate director, cooling product marketing at Carrier HVAC, about the five essential things to know about this energy-efficient, cost-effective way to heat and cool a home.
Electrek: What’s a heat pump and how does it work?
Heidi Gehring: A heat pump is often mistaken for an air conditioner at first glance. What makes it different from an air conditioner is that it can both heat and cool your home using electricity and refrigerant.
In cooler months, heat is pulled from the outdoor air and transferred indoors; in warmer months, the system pulls heat out of the indoor air. Heat pumps have both an indoor and outdoor component. Each unit contains a fan and coil that operates either as a condenser (in cooling mode) or an evaporator (in heating mode). The fan moves the air across the coil and throughout the ducts in the home.
Electrek: Do heat pumps save you money, and what kinds of cost savings can be expected?
Heidi Gehring: Because heat pumps are more energy efficient, they can save you money on your heating and cooling bills. Your savings will vary based on the model you select.
Heat pumps are rated by their Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF2) – which is a measure of a heat pump’s overall energy efficiency during the heating season – their Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER2), and their Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER2). The higher the rating, the more energy-efficient the system.
Additionally, the US government’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes incentives for the installation of high-efficiency home heating and cooling products, including up to a $2,000 tax credit for high-efficiency heat pumps and up to 30% for geothermal heat pump systems placed in service between 2022 and 2032. Look into local and state programs, too, as many utilities and local governments offer heat pump rebates.
Electrek: Why is a heat pump better for the environment?
Heidi Gehring: Heat pumps rely on electricity rather than fossil fuels, making them a much greener choice. Improvements in technology in recent years also mean that heat pumps are more efficient than ever, requiring less electricity than older heaters, furnaces, and air conditioners.
Geothermal heat pumps are also available – they pull energy directly from the earth to heat or cool your home and can result in up to 70% savings on your energy bill.
Electrek:What features should you consider when comparing different models?
Heidi Gehring: Heat pumps vary in the number of stages or speeds they offer. Different speeds or stages can affect your comfort and the consistency of indoor temperature. Humidity plays a major role but is often overlooked. Two-stage and variable-speed offer better control because they operate for a longer period of time at lower speeds and use less energy. These pull more humidity out of the air than models with a single-stage compressor.
Variable-speed and two-stage models are generally quieter than single-stage models, and because they run longer, that means the air is run through the filter more, so it has less chance of becoming stagnant.
Electrek: When is the best time of year to install a heat pump?
Heidi Gehring: Usually in the spring or fall. During the coldest winter months and hottest summer months, demand for systems and technicians increases, so you may experience longer wait times and higher prices. Make sure you hire a professional. HVAC systems of any kind require expert knowledge for installation and are not a good DIY project.
If you’re switching from a traditional HVAC system to a heat pump, you may also need electrical upgrades. A professional HVAC installer can help you with that as well.
Heidi Gehring is the associate director, cooling product marketing at Carrier HVAC. She joined Bryant in 2017 as the quality manager for warranty, data analytics, and field service technology. In 2019, she moved into product marketing. She holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Wisconsin Madison and an MBA from Purdue Global.
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Multi-million-dollar grants adding up to more than $46 million from the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will help support electrification efforts at several American ports.
The Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) in Long Beach, California has received a $34.9 million grant from the FHWA to replace 155 on-site commercial trucks and buses with zero-emission vehicles (ZEV). The grant will fund both the purchase of new electric trucks and the necessary charging infrastructure to support them.
LBCT said the grant dollars will allow it to continue its multi-billion dollar investments in more sustainable logistical operations. “Our vehicle electrification project, coupled with previous investments, enables LBCT to achieve a unique status that is reframing the way the world views sustainable goods movement, enhancing community quality of life and climate change,” said Anthony Otto, CEO of LBCT.
“This investment is a huge win for clean air, electrification and the region,” said US House Rep. Robert Garcia. “These federal dollars will make our port cleaner, safer and help us meet our climate goals.”
Container ports used to be some of the dirtiest, most heavily polluted areas in the world. That was bad for everyone – but it was especially bad for the people who lived and worked near them. That’s why any positive change is good. Beyond just “positive change,” however, ports today seem to be leading the way when it comes to electric vehicle and hydrogen adoption.
How things change!
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German equipment manufacturer Kramer showed off a pair of zero-emission equipment options at the Paris Intermat show last week – the 5065e electric wheel loader and 1445e electric telehandler.
Kramer says the quiet operation of its new electric wheel loader and telehandler are ideal for noise-sensitive areas such as city centers, cemeteries and golf courses, hotels, and suburban parks and recreation areas, where it can operate without emitting harmful diesel particulate matter and other forms of air pollution.
Kramer-Werke GmbH is serious about promoting its new EVs in the French market. “That’s why Intermat is an important platform for us,” explains Christian Stryffeler, Kramer’s Managing Director. “We are also looking forward to showcasing our new generation of (electric) wheel loaders and telescopic wheel loaders here.”
Kramer 5065e wheel loader
The 5065e loader is powered a 37.5 kWh, 96V lithium-ion battery that’s good for up to four hours of continuous operation – which is a lot more than it sounds, considering idle time in an EV doesn’t drain batteries the way idling a diesel drains fuel. A 23 kW (30 hp) electric motor drives the electric wheel loader around the job site, while a 25 kW (approx. 35 hp) motor powers the machine’s 40 liters hydraulic system.
Kramer says the battery on its electric loader can be fully charged in just 5.1 hours using a “Type 2 Wallbox” (that’s an L2 charger to you and me). Max payload is 1750 kg, with a 2800 kg tipping load. Top speed is 20 km/h (approx. 12.5 mph).
Kramer 1445e telehandler
The 1445e telehandler uses a 96V battery architecture that’s similar to the one in the wheel loader, but in a smaller 18 kWh or 28 kWh pack. This enables a fleet manager to right-size their equipment’s batteries to provide four hours of run time in different types of work environments. And, also like the wheel loader, a 23 kW (30 hp) electric motor provides the drive while a 25 kW (approx. 35 hp) powers the hydraulics.
Level 2 charging comes standard on Kramer’s electric telehandler, enabling a full charge of the larger, 28 kWh battery in about five hours. Max payload is 1450 kg.
Electrek’s Take
It’s always good to see more manufacturers pushing out electric equipment options. It’s still the “wild west” out there, even more so than in automotive, and Kramer’s offerings seem to be a step behind in some ways (no DCFC capability) and ahead in others (96V where others are 48V), so it’s hard to know where they stand.
The robotics experts at ETH Zurich have developed an autonomous excavator that uses advanced AI to help it complete high-skill tasks without a human operator.
Dry stone wall construction typically involves huge amounts of operator labor. Doing it right requires not just hours of labor, but hours of skilled, experienced labor. At least, it used to. If the crew at ETH is successful, building stone retaining walls will soon become a “set it and forget it” task for robots to complete. Robots like their HEAP excavator.
HEAP (Hydraulic Excavator for an Autonomous Purpose) is a customized Menzi Muck M545 developed for autonomous operation that uses electrically-driven hydraulics to operate an advanced boom arm equipped with draw wire encoders, LiDAR, Leica iCON site-mapping, and a Rototilt “wrist” on the end that makes it look more like a high-precision robotic arm than a traditional heavy equipment asset.
ETH HEAP tech stack
Which makes sense. After all: the ETH guys are roboticists, not skilled heavy equipment operators. So, how does their robot do against skilled operators?
“We are currently outperformed by human excavator operators in placement speed,” ETH researchers wrote in Science Robotics. “Such operators, however, typically require string and paint references with which to register their construction and often a second or third person outside the machine to provide guidance and to insert small supporting stones, gravel, and soil by hand and shovel. In contrast, our process can build complex nonplanar global surface geometries without physical reference markers, does not require a skilled driver or small supporting stones, and provides a full digital twin of the built structure for better accountability and future reuse.”
Translation: the robot is slower, but it gets the job done.
You can watch the ETH HEAP put all its onboard tech to work building a 215 foot long, 20 foot high retaining wall all on its own in the video, below.
Autonomous excavator constructs dry stone wall
The completed project can be seen at Circularity Park in Oberglatt, Switzerland, and illustrates the potential for autonomous equipment to build with irregularly-shaped materials. And with skilled operators in short supply everywhere, the potential to free up operators so they can go where they’re really needed.
That said, the electrically driven hydraulics and high-precision Rototilt wrist on the end of the boom arm’s “claw” alone make this futuristic excavator worth some attention. As more and more manufacturers switch to full electric or even “just” electric drive, research into better solutions for existing hydraulic equipment and expertise could lead to big market wins.
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