We’re getting used to these summer heatwaves. Thankfully, Ireland may not have reached the sweltering levels of Spain, France and elsewhere but prolonged summer temperatures in the high 20s and even above 30C have become our new normal.
Not that there’s anything wrong with a warm summer’s day! But for all those cheery front-page photos of people enjoying ice creams at the beach, everyone knows that sustained heat can be problematic.
If you’re one of the many people in Ireland who’s been struggling with the heat or tossing and turning through uncomfortably warm nights, your thoughts may well have turned to our European neighbours, many of whose homes are fitted with air conditioning technology.
Air conditioning is another way of describing an air to air heat pump system, which extracts energy from the outside air and transfers it inside a building, either heating or cooling the indoor environment. Air to air systems can also connect to your hot water tank for domestic hot water supply.
Although air conditioning is mainly associated with the process of cooling down indoor spaces during hot days and nights, air to air heat pumps are in fact mainly used for heating. Data captured via Daikin’s Onecta app shows that 85% of air to air heat pump use is in heating mode, especially in autumn and spring.
“Surge of interest” in air conditioning
At this time of year, however, the last thing we need is more hot air. Rising summer temperatures have sparked a surge of interest in air conditioning, with an estimated 500,000 installations of air to air heat pumps in Europe this year alone driven by the hot weather.
Daikin’s acclaimed Multi+ air to air system has one outdoor unit which can connect to up to four indoor units in different rooms – say kitchen, living room and two bedrooms – as well as connecting to a hot water tank, providing a consistent supply of domestic hot water.
Air to air heat pumps are easy to install and very straightforward to operate. With the Onecta app, you can control the system remotely, for example to give your apartment a blast of cool air before you get home on a warm summer’s evening (or a blast of warm air on colder days).
Anyone lucky enough to have an air to air heat pump installed in their home during the recent heatwave will know how good it feels to be able to stay cool and comfortable during hot days and especially hot nights.
However, the real beauty of this technology is its efficiency. Daikin cooling solutions are classified with the highest energy efficiency labels on the market, with our signature inverter technology capable of reducing energy consumption by up to 30% compared to non-inverter systems.
The fact that heat pumps use mostly renewable energy (outside air) and electricity instead of fossil fuel combustion also helps to reduce your environmental impact – the main reason the Government wants to encourage as many Irish homeowners as possible to replace their oil or gas boiler with a heat pump.
New Daikin X Series coming soon
Homeowners looking to make that switch will soon be able to choose the new Daikin X Series, which arrives in Ireland this September.
The highly-anticipated new X Series is a next generation mixed heat pump system that combines air to air technology for heating and cooling, and air to water technology for hydraulic heating (e.g. underfloor) as well as domestic hot water production, all from a single outdoor unit.
The X Series will be a game-changer for residential heat pump installation in Ireland, providing consistent comfort throughout the changing seasons – heating in winter, cooling summer, hot water all year round. If you’re thinking about installing a heat pump in the next 12 months, ask your local installer about the Daikin X Series.
Browse the full Daikin range of heat pumps here.