PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENTIAL HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS WITH AND WITHOUT BUFFER TANK INTEGRATION: A SIMULATION-BASED STUDY

This paper proposes an analysis of the performance associated to heating technologies. In particular, heat pumps are considered together with different configurations characterized by the presence or not of a buffer and by various heating systems, i.e., radiators and underfloor heating. In addition, different sizing of the various elements is considered. The inclusion of a buffer in the design of a heating plant represents a critical choice due to its purchase and installation costs and to the space required for its installation. A focus on defrost cycles of the heat pump is presented in terms of observed failures. Different scenarios are taken into account in order to provide a thorough analysis in terms of significant key performance indicators, e.g., the number of defrost failures. A tailored simulator based on a mathematical model is used to perform the simulations in the different scenarios designed and to analyse the data obtained; Dymola and MATLAB/Simulink environments are exploited.