Thermal Energy Storage Increases Heat-Pump Effectiveness

When we think of the future of all-electric buildings, two technologies tend to rise to the top: heat pumps and batteries. Heat pumps are now ubiquitous for providing heating and cooling, and lithium-ion batteries have become increasingly popular. Alone, the two technologies can work great, but each has limitations. There are challenges with heat pumps in cold climates and in dense urban areas that don’t have space for them; and current battery technology is expensive, has safety concerns, and is not typically used with large HVAC systems.

There are other ways to store energy, and one of them—thermal energy storage (TES) using tanks—has been used for decades to provide cooling.