Samsung Electronics has begun testing a heat pump system that provides cooling, heating, and hot water from a single unit in residential homes in Jeju. This initiative aligns with the government's goal to promote 'electrification of heating' this year, aiming to expand the product range suitable for both single-family homes and apartments.
On June 10, Samsung announced the establishment of a 'heat pump field test lab' in a single-family home in Jeju City’s Donam-dong, where it is verifying the cooling and heating performance and energy efficiency of its 'EHS All-in-One' system. On July 31, officials from the Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment and Jeju Province visited the site to assess the installation, operation, and energy-saving effects.
The heat pump operates by extracting heat from the air for heating and hot water, serving as a key method to reduce carbon emissions in the building sector by replacing fossil fuel-burning boilers with electric systems.
The government plans to invest 14.45 billion won in the electrification of heating this year, supporting 70% of the installation costs for heat pumps in single-family homes, particularly in warmer regions like Jeju and Gyeongnam.
The EHS All-in-One system can handle air conditioning, underfloor heating, and hot water supply with a single outdoor unit. It also incorporates 'heat recovery' technology, which reuses heat discarded during the cooling process for hot water production. This approach aims to consolidate the separate installations of air conditioners and boilers commonly found in domestic housing into one system.
Samsung is also exploring the feasibility of applying this technology to multi-family housing. The company is installing the EHS All-in-One in environments similar to actual apartments at Samsung C&T's Residential Performance Research Institute to gather performance and operational data. This step is crucial for the heat pump's expansion into the apartment sector, which constitutes a significant portion of domestic housing, as it requires verification of installation space, piping, and heating methods.
Additionally, a heat pump boiler is being tested in Jeju. The EHS heat pump boiler, installed in Aewol in June, recorded a seasonal performance factor (SCOP) of 4.9 under 35-degree water output conditions, providing about five times the heating energy compared to its power consumption, exceeding the government’s efficiency standard of 4.5.
Samsung is expanding its heat pump business, previously focused on Europe, into the domestic housing market. If the government’s distribution project extends from single-family homes to multi-family units in places like Jeju, it is expected to alter the competitive landscape of the domestic heating and cooling market, which has been divided between air conditioners and boilers.
Shin Moon-sun, executive director of Samsung Electronics' DA division, stated, 'Jeju is the first region where the national electrification of heating policy is being implemented, making it an important testbed to validate the competitiveness of heat pump technology and products in real residential environments. We aim to expand our residential HVAC solutions that encompass cooling, heating, and hot water supply.'
* This article has been translated by AI.
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