The Strategic Use of Heat Pumps and Thermal Storage for Residential Demand-side Management

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Space conditioning and domestic hot water loads account for over 80 percent of the residential energy use in Canada. These loads place significant peak energy demand on the utility grid during winter mornings (space heating and hot water use) and summer afternoons (space cooling). This has a number of negative impacts on the electricity grid, including an increase in required production capacity and distribution capabilities. As a result, reducing peak energy demand on the grid is paramount over the next decade due to infrastructure aging and rapidly approaching capacity. In response, utility providers in Ontario and Nova Scotia (accounting for 41% of Canada's population) have implemented rate premiums during peak periods (i.e., time of use billing). This practice is used to encourage consumers to shift their electricity use from on-peak to off-peak periods.*******The use of heat pumps and thermal storage can alleviate the temporal energy mismatch between off-peak periods and building occupant demands by allowing energy to be stored, thus reducing demand on fossil fuels during peak periods. The overall objective of the research program is aimed at discovering innovative concepts to use heat pumps and thermal storage for residential demand-side management.*******The program supports fundamental research consisting of component level numerical modelling, supported by experimental analysis. Numerical simulations of complete heat pump thermal storage systems will be implemented in the TRNSYS software and validated against experimental data obtained from controlled laboratory experiments at the Solar Energy Systems Laboratory at Carleton University. To undertake this research, 2 Ph.D. and 2 M.A.Sc. students will be recruited and address the following four short-term objectives:*******Obj. A: Evaluation of sensible and latent thermal storages and their integration with residential heat pumps to reduce peak utility demand****Obj. B: Integration of thermal storage and cold climate air source heat pumps for improved seasonal performance****Obj. C: Development of control strategies to offset peak domestic hot water loads****Obj. D: Combining heat pumps with solar energy: performance comparison between solar thermal and photovoltaics*******It is expected that these new systems will contribute to growing trends for distributed thermal and electrical (smart grid) energy solutions to reduce the long-term impact on Canadian energy consumption, and reduce peak electrical loads, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. It is anticipated that this program will drive industry innovations in value-added HVAC design, heat transfer and control systems, and will foster the development and training of HQP. Graduate students will be trained in the use of modern equipment essential for building energy studies such as data acquisition and control systems, instrumentation for thermal and fluid measurements, and energy simulation tools.***