Reverse Cycle Chiller Question

jb9

Hello,

I am confused about the difference between an air-to-air source heat pump and a reverse cycle chiller. Why is a reverse cycle chiller used in radiant applications while the air-to-air source is used mostly in ductless mini-splits? I sense this is a dumb question but I am going to ask it anyway.

Thanks.

EBEBRATT-Ed

An air-air heat pump uses finned refrigerant coils to heat or cool the air directly by heat transfer from the refrigerant.

A chiller heats or cools water and transfers heat between the refrigerant from the refrigerant to the water through a shell & tube or plate & frame heat exchanger.

Chillers use water for a heating medium the same as a radiant system does.

air-air heat pumps use air the same as a ductless split does.

There's no stupid questions were all learning

jb9

Got it. So is the reason that a reverse cycle chiller unit is more expensive is because it is a more complex piece of equipment due to the extra heat exchanger piece? Also, are there fewer of them produced and installed than air-to-air source heat pumps?

SWEI

jb9 said:

So is the reason that a reverse cycle chiller unit is more expensive is because
...
there fewer of them produced and installed than air-to-air source heat pumps?

This ^^

jb9

Thanks K. I thought that might be it.

hvacfreak2

When I read the title I was thinking of a Trane CVHE running backwards or something .

Reverse cycle chiller , a few years ago we called them water to water heat pumps. But " Reverse Cycle Chiller " sounds important . Heck , you would think that it sounds more technical than Trane CVHF or even " Centravac " . So a water source heat pump is a reverse cycle chiller when viewed from the condenser loop side. More coffee maybe , till then it's bunk.

bulldoglax

Wouldn't you call it an air to water heat pump?

hvacfreak2

Or a reverse cycle air conditioner.

I guess the terminology issue is mine , I'm just used to a chiller being a larger machine. A small machine that cools water is in fact a " chiller ". Terminal equipment none the less.

SWEI

bulldoglax said:

Wouldn't you call it an air to water heat pump?

That's what we call them.

AnthraciteEnergetics

Air to water, that's what I'm familiar with. Heat pump with water on the condenser instead of air.