How a Compact Solar Heat Pump Hot Water Heater Works

The Quantum Compact Solar works like a refrigerator or air conditioner. There is nothing magical about the Quantum. It simply uses technology that has been successfully used in every household in Australia for decades, but in a very clever way. A refrigeration device takes heat from one place and puts it into another place. A refrigerator takes heat from the inside and puts it on the outside to “lose” this heat into the room (the back of your refrigerator is hot). An air conditioner blows cold air inside and transfers the heat from the room to blow hot air outside. The Quantum Compact Solar uses the same tried and proven technology to transfer heat from the atmosphere and put it into a hot water storage cylinder.

The Quantum Compact Solar consists of three main components: a compressor and two heat exchangers. The heat exchanger that gathers heat is called the evaporator and the heat exchanger that gives off heat is called the condenser.

In operation, as the refrigerant passes through the evaporator it absorbs the heat available to it from the atmosphere. In the Quantum Compact Solar, the heat is gathered as air is pulled through a coil by a fan (just like the in-room component of a split air conditioner). Before the refrigerant passes through the coil it’s temperature is around minus 20 degrees C, so an air temperature of even +10 degrees C seems very hot in comparison. Heat is transferred to the refrigerant from the air. Because the air loses heat to the refrigerant, the air coming out of the Quantum is cooled by around 10 degrees C! The resulting increase in heat vaporizes the refrigerant. This vapour is then compressed, raising its pressure and raising its temperature to over +100 degrees C. The high temperature vapour is passed through the condenser, which has special pipes which are permanently bonded to the outside of the water storage tank. As the refrigerant vapour condenses back to its liquid form it gives off its heat to the stored water. The condensed refrigerant then passes through an expansion valve which sends it back to around –20 degrees C, it passes through the coil and absorbs the heat from the air, and the cycle continues.

Because refrigerant vaporizes at such a low temperature (around –20 degrees C), and because of the superior condenser design, the Quantum works very efficiently even when the air temperatures is below zero degrees. A booster element is therefore never required!

The patented condenser design is a key to Quantum’s efficiency. Some heat pumps actually pump the water out of the water storage cylinder, pass the water through a refrigerant heat exchanger, and then back into the water storage cylinder. Other heat pumps need a booster element because they are unable to provide sufficient hot water in the colder months.

There is no need to compromise. A Quantum will provide you with massive amounts of hot water, without the need for a circulating pump or booster element.