IoT enabled Heat Pumps - Case studies and market opportunities [26]

Ambitious climate, energy and environmental goals require the conversion into an efficient and renewable energy system with low CO₂ emissions. Digitalisation is one of the important factors in the transformation of the energy systems. It is expected to facilitate matching of supply and demand with increasing volatile energy production and to significantly contribute to end energy savings and CO₂ emission reductions.

According to an IEA study, digitization can reduce energy consumption in buildings by 10 % by 2040. Heat Pumps become increasingly connected devices enabled to participate in the Internet of Things (IoT). Such Heat Pumps, both in domestic and industrial applications, allow for operation optimization to reduce energy consumption, to reduce the carbon footprint, to realize economic benefits or to increase comfort.

They also enable grid services by targeted exploitation of flexibility e.g. in a pool of small Heat Pumps or with large scale industrial Heat Pumps, which is of increasing importance due to the rising share of renewable energy. This contribution presents the results of IEA HPT TCP Annex 56 on IoT and digitalisation for Heat Pumps. More than 40 case studies of various IoT enabled Heat Pump products and services were analysed in the participating countries (Austria, Denmark, France Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland). The contribution gives insights into the relevance of interconnected Heat Pumps, state-of-the-art use cases, market availability and selected technology trends.