SF-98-19-1 (RP-780) -- Relevance of Existing Heat Pump Testing and Rating Method Assumptions to Residential Gas Engine Heat Pumps PDF

ASHRAE Research Project 780 evaluated the relevance of existing heat pump testing and rating method assumptions to a method of test for residential gas engine-driven heat pumps (GEHP). The intrinsic cyclic behavior of GEHP systems suggests changing the heating cycling test from a 20% duty cycle to a 35% duty cycle. GEHP seasonal heating performance should be calculated for the design heating requirement (DHR) maximum and minimum loads to encompass the range of expected heating loads, reflecting that the GEHP can be sized for the heating load in predominantly heating climates. Oversizing for the cooling load will tend to improve the seasonal cooling performance while maintaining adequate humidity control. Using quadratic fits to interpolate performance in test procedures can produce erroneous results due to the characteristics of the formulas used. Changes to standards dealing with coil fouling, low outdoor temperature cutout, and size of temperature bins used in the performance calculations were judged "not warranted" because sensitivity analyses indicated that performance was not significantly affected by these parameters.

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