A heat pump is designed to absorb energy, which is produced by the sun, from the air and transfer it to water. This hot water can then be stored in your geyser to be used as needed. The system works in such a way that for every 1kW of electrical energy consumed, up to 5 kW of water heating can be achieved. This is what we call the C.O.P (co-efficient of performance) of the heat pump. By contrast, conventional electric geysers only produce about 980W of heating for every 1kW of electricity used.

Unlike solar geysers, heat pumps can work at any time, they are not restricted to daylight hours only and are not hindered by overcast conditions. They are able to operate to a temperature of  -15 deg C, however at this temperature the COP is reduced. We can therefore set a timer so that the heat pump only operates during warmer periods of the day so as to achieve maximum efficiencies.

A heat pump can be linked to your existing geyser.  It has a rapid recovery rate and at an ambient temperature of 20 deg C a 4.7kW unit will heat approx. 110 litres an hour from 18 deg C to 55 deg C. That means that the average 200l geyser will be fully heated up in less than 2 hours if it is drained completely. It will only be consuming 1.2 kw of electricity to do that. Heat pumps are also well suited to applications where there is a continuous high demand for hot water such as hotels, guesthouses, gyms and industrial change rooms.

The electrical element in the geyser can also be switched off permanently as there is no need for electrical back up as with solar geysers.

A SIRAC heat pump can offer you a saving of up to 70% on your water heating and offers a pay back time on your investment of around 3 years at the current electricity price. 

“When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves.” – David Orr