From boiler to heat pump for domestic hot water

Centralised system with Sheen EVO 2.0 heat pump combined with 2000-litre storage tank and thermal solar panels for domestic hot water production, Intelliplant management and monitoring system.

The building and the challenge

In 2023 the condominium assembly decides to proceed with the energy requalification of the 36-apartment building from the 1960s with a total area of 4500 m2, located in the centre of Milan, in order to reduce running costs, by intervening on the existing air-conditioning system, based on 2 old boilers for heating and domestic hot water respectively, a chiller for cooling and distribution with radiators and fancoils.

The most important cost item to work on is that for domestic hot water production.

The solution and the results

The solution chosen is a system based on 1 high-efficiency heat pump with inverter technology and ecological refrigerant R32 Sheen EVO 2.0 combined with a 2000 litre storage tank and thermal solar panels, plus a condensing boiler that acts as a back-up during peak demand.

For the rest of the system, it was decided to replace the old boiler for heating with a condensing boiler with 1500 litre storage tank and the old chiller for cooling with a new high-efficiency Clivet chiller.

To save also on the electricity costs of the common parts, 2 Sinergy systems with 2 x 20 kW/h energy storage batteries and 2 x 10 kW inverters combined with 20 kW of photovoltaic panels were installed.

All this is coordinated by the Intelliplant Building Management system, which optimises the comfort and electricity consumption of the entire system and monitors the production of the photovoltaics and the state of charge of the batteries.

With the new complete system, all objectives have been achieved: both the reduction of hot water production costs and the annual cycle air conditioning.
Thanks to INTELLIPLANT, the plant manager also has the operation of all units under control at all times and can therefore intervene promptly in the event of faults or breakdowns.

The protagonists

  • Installation: Pentagas 
  • Agency: Pieracci
  • Designer: Studio Planning, Milan

Clivet units installed

  • 1 Sheen EVO 2.0 heat pump 
  • 1 Magnum WSAT-XEM chiller 
  • 1 INTELLIPLANT management and monitoring system
  • 1 Sinergy 20 kW energy storage and inverter