Articles by John Siegenthaler, P.E.

The Coefficient of Performance (COP) of a heat pump is essentially the same concept as the thermal efficiency of a boiler (e.g., the desirable output divided by the necessary input).

With systems dating back into the 1800s, hydronic heating has been around a long time. As with many technologies, a modern hydronic heating system bears little resemblance to one based on the earliest design techniques and hardware.

Over the last several years, I’ve been reviewing submittals for proposed heating systems using pellet-fired boilers. The submittals come from heating professionals ranging from contractors to professional engineers. They’re required for a state incentive program that offers significant rebates to encourage growth of the biomass heating market.

Nearly all systems using cordwood gasification or pellet-fueled boilers perform best when the system includes a thermal storage tank. 

The measure of a heat pump’s heating performance is called coefficient of performance (COP). It’s the ratio of useful heat output divided by required energy input, where both the output and input are expressed in the same physical units.

Most of the modern hydronics technology used in North America for residential and light commercial buildings is for heating. 

One of the most fundamental principles used in all areas of science and engineering is the first law of thermodynamics.