Converted Heat Pumps for Small- and Medium-Size Hospitality Enterprises: More Energy Saving and Commercialization

Government officials have recently paid more attention to emissions produced by power plants and have called for more adoption of innovative energy-saving facilities. Among these energy-saving facilities, many scholars and governments have recommended using heat pumps. A heat pump is a kind of heat exchanging device capable of producing cooling and heating function or even hot water with energy-saving properties. Nevertheless, the principles and theories indicate that the heat pump functions should not be limited to a single functional mode at a time. It is possible to achieve bi-functional modes simultaneously via the heat recovery process. While some large heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems possess the dual functions simultaneously, this kind of bi-functional mode has not been available for the household size air-conditioner or heat pump. To prove this and check for its technical feasibility, a conversion of the existing household size air-conditioning system using the heat pump principle into the bi-functional mode was undertaken. Given over millions of small- and medium-size hospitality operators may benefit from it all over the world, a further investigation was undertaken in the second stage. Focus group interviews were conducted to identify the factors slowing and quickening the commercialization of the bi-functional mode type of the heat pump or air-conditioner with reference to network theory.