Read the heat-pump electricity demand
Understand how a heat pump's annual heat demand becomes an electricity-demand curve in the simulation, including the cold-weather switchover to the backup heater that lifts winter consumption.
When a variant includes a heat pump, the simulation converts the building's heat demand into the electricity the pump draws across the year. This page is about reading that demand stream. Sizing the pump and entering the heat demand happen in the Heat load and Plan heat pump leaves; the running-cost comparison lives in Profitability.
What shapes the demand curve
- The pump's electricity draw is driven by the annual heat demand (from the heat-load calculation or entered manually) and the pump's efficiency (its coefficient of performance, COP) from the component data.
- Demand follows the outside temperature over the year: more electricity in cold months, less in mild ones.
- Below the bivalence point (the cold-weather threshold), the backup heating rod takes over. The rod is resistive and far less efficient than the pump, so winter electricity demand rises noticeably around that switchover.
Things to know
- Under-entered heat demand is the most common cause of a wrong result. If the heat-pump electricity number (or the savings) looks off, cross-check the annual heat demand in kWh against the customer's old gas or oil bill before anything else.
- The heating-rod electricity is included in the single heat-pump figure rather than shown separately. If demand looks higher than a pure-efficiency estimate, the cold-weather rod contribution is usually why.
- Heat pumps are a residential product. The heat-pump simulation runs the same way across supported countries. What changes per country is the subsidy handling and, in some markets, how the pump's performance data is entered. See Plan heat pump for the planning flow.
Related
- Heat load (room by room) and Heat load indication: where the heat demand comes from.
- Plan heat pump: attach and size the pump.
- Profitability: the heating cost comparison (old system versus heat pump).
- Energy flows: how the heat-pump load sits in the household balance.
Need help?
- Step-by-step questions about this flow contact your Reonic account manager.
- Feature requests or something missing drop a note to your account manager.
- Bug reports include a screenshot and the URL where it happened in your support email.
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