4 ms·

I always went with this description too, though oddly a "heat pump water heater" only works one direction, yet "heat pump" is still in its name.

sidewndr46 3y ago
all heat pumps work in one direction. You can't move cold around with any mechanism. Only heat can be moved. The difference is residential "heat pumps" just have a set of reversing valves so you can move heat from outdoors to indoors.
- anamexis 3y ago
  > The difference is residential "heat pumps" just have a set of reversing valves so you can move heat from outdoors to indoors. So.. they work in two directions.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 3y ago
    It depends on your frame of reference.
wcfields 3y ago
Have to imagine that the niche market for making 40F/4C "cold" water from luke-warm tap water (if you live in an area that is so hot the tap water is warm) is fairly small.
- triceratops 3y ago
  It's not a niche market. Every office in the world has a water cooler. The market for evaporative water coolers is niche, or probably only big in the developing world. Other than that water coolers use refrigeration aka a heat pump.
  - thsksbd 3y ago
    Naw. Every office in the world has a water dispenser misnamed "cooler". Ive only ever seen water coolers in the US, mainly in the South, and they're loud
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- Phrodo_00 3y ago
  Every fridge with a cold water tap is literally this (in addition of being a fridge and a freezer, obviously)
  - Marsymars 3y ago
    My Frigidaire fridge doesn't seem to have a water reservoir, so the water dispensed is room temperature. (And eventually tap-cold temperature.)
triceratops 3y ago
A "heat pump water cooler" also exists and is better known simply as a water cooler. You know, the one that people gossip around.
throw0101a 3y ago
Perhaps think of "heat pump" as something that can (also) bring heat into a building, whereas A/C generally (only) removes heat from it.
- Maxion 3y ago
  An A/C is a heat pump. Stop trying to change existing terminology
  - nsxwolf 3y ago
    I've only ever known the term "heat pump", in the context of HVAC, to mean "an air conditioner that can also be used to heat".
    - getwiththeprog 3y ago
      Everyone in this thread might benefit from a little research before posting... https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-heat-pumps/how-a-heat-pump-works https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-heat-pumps/how-a-h... or a simpler article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump It is different from a radiator or a furnace.
  - unholythree 3y ago
    In the trades in the US we would exclusively use the term heat pump to describe a system where the “indoor” or “outdoor” coil can change from condenser or evaporator depending setting. Us HVAC guys would generally call a conventional system a conventional DX system (for direct exchange rather than chiller) or a split system (like a mini-split, minus the mini).
  - itsmartapuntocm 3y ago
    I work in the HVAC industry and "heat pump" in the context of A/C units exclusively refers to models that cool and heat by reversing the refrigerant flow.
  - throw0101a 3y ago

sidewndr46 3y ago

all heat pumps work in one direction. You can't move cold around with any mechanism. Only heat can be moved. The difference is residential "heat pumps" just have a set of reversing valves so you can move heat from outdoors to indoors.

anamexis 3y ago
> The difference is residential "heat pumps" just have a set of reversing valves so you can move heat from outdoors to indoors. So.. they work in two directions.
- TheSpiceIsLife 3y ago
  It depends on your frame of reference.

wcfields 3y ago

Have to imagine that the niche market for making 40F/4C "cold" water from luke-warm tap water (if you live in an area that is so hot the tap water is warm) is fairly small.

triceratops 3y ago
It's not a niche market. Every office in the world has a water cooler. The market for evaporative water coolers is niche, or probably only big in the developing world. Other than that water coolers use refrigeration aka a heat pump.
- thsksbd 3y ago
  Naw. Every office in the world has a water dispenser misnamed "cooler". Ive only ever seen water coolers in the US, mainly in the South, and they're loud
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
Phrodo_00 3y ago
Every fridge with a cold water tap is literally this (in addition of being a fridge and a freezer, obviously)
- Marsymars 3y ago
  My Frigidaire fridge doesn't seem to have a water reservoir, so the water dispensed is room temperature. (And eventually tap-cold temperature.)

triceratops 3y ago

A "heat pump water cooler" also exists and is better known simply as a water cooler. You know, the one that people gossip around.

throw0101a 3y ago

Perhaps think of "heat pump" as something that can (also) bring heat into a building, whereas A/C generally (only) removes heat from it.

Maxion 3y ago
An A/C is a heat pump. Stop trying to change existing terminology
- nsxwolf 3y ago
  I've only ever known the term "heat pump", in the context of HVAC, to mean "an air conditioner that can also be used to heat".
  - getwiththeprog 3y ago
    Everyone in this thread might benefit from a little research before posting... https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-heat-pumps/how-a-heat-pump-works https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-heat-pumps/how-a-h... or a simpler article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump It is different from a radiator or a furnace.
- unholythree 3y ago
  In the trades in the US we would exclusively use the term heat pump to describe a system where the “indoor” or “outdoor” coil can change from condenser or evaporator depending setting. Us HVAC guys would generally call a conventional system a conventional DX system (for direct exchange rather than chiller) or a split system (like a mini-split, minus the mini).
- itsmartapuntocm 3y ago
  I work in the HVAC industry and "heat pump" in the context of A/C units exclusively refers to models that cool and heat by reversing the refrigerant flow.
- throw0101a 3y ago