Johnson Controls-Hitachi’s new Yutaki M R32 monobloc air-to-water heat pump is an all-in-one solution, delivering heating, cooling and domestic water heater with an external tank.

Government planners, taking their queues from politicians and advocacy organizations, have steered the future of energy supply away from fossil fuels and toward renewably-sourced electricity. It’s happening on every level from the feds right down to local city councils.

The System M consists of a sleek, quiet, inverter-driven outdoor heat pump that can be up to 4 times more efficient than a gas furnace, the company says.

Introducing the new Ascend Air-Water Heat Pump Model ACX from Trane (140-230 tons cooling, 1500-2500 MBh heating) – a perfect fit for meeting sustainability and efficiency targets for heating or cooling from one electric source, the company says.

In last month’s column, I touched on air-to-water heat pumps because they are rapidly becoming very saleable to consumers. In some areas of the U.S., electric heating, cooling and production of DHW are no longer an option and fossil fuels have been outlawed.

Here’s a countdown of the top 10 articles you read the most in 2021 based on the number of unique pageviews on www.pmmag.com. 

Taco Comfort Solutions wins the AHR 2023 Innovation award for Sustainable Solutions with its System M. I fully expect to see a virtual explosion in the number of air-to-water heat pumps on display at the upcoming AHR Expo in February.

Over the last few years, I’ve written several columns describing how air-to-water heat pumps can provide heating, cooling and domestic hot water for homes. Many of the systems involve buffer tanks to help stabilize heat transfer from the heat pump to a zoned distribution system.

Heat pumps offer attractive solutions to energy-efficient heating and cooling, and the market is growing. According to a November 2021 report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), nearly 180 million heat pumps were used for heating in 2020, as the global stock increased nearly 10% per year over the past five years.