You may see advertisements today advertising VRF heat pump systems. But what is a VRF system? VRF stands for variable refrigerant flow system. The system consists of a single outdoor heat pump system with a single refrigerant circuit that feeds multiple indoor units. There are numerous indoor units available including wall-mounted units, ducted fan coils, floor consoles, and ceiling cassette units. The VRF systems come in 2 styles.
The first type is a heat pump version. This system will provide either heating to all the indoor units or cooling to all the indoor units. Each indoor unit would have its own temperature control for control of the space temperature that the particular indoor unit conditions.
The second type is a heat recovery version. This system can provide simultaneous heating or cooling to multiple indoor units. In other words, you could have one indoor unit heating while another is cooling at the same time. This is especially nice where there are multiple floors that are being conditioned by one system, or an area of the building that has higher heating or cooling requirements in comparison to the rest of the building.
These systems may seem new to us. But, in actuality, they have been in use in the Far East for 20 + years. The systems were more prevalent in the commercial building industry. But, technological advances have contributed to the refinement of these systems. There are some manufacturers that now have them available for residential building construction. For example, Mitsubishi has had a “heat pump” version of this system available for the residential market for a number of years. LG just recently came out with a heat recovery system that can be used for residential building applications.
Most of the systems available today are what we consider “low ambient” systems. They can provide 100% of the heating and cooling to a building without the need for supplemental heat. The systems are extremely efficient providing low cost heating and cooling.
So, if you have an existing home or commercial building, and you have temperature differences in different areas, this would certainly be a system to consider. Or, if you are looking to build a new home or commercial building, this system can provide an efficient, comfortable environment throughout your home.