Unipipe launches new line of smart heat pumps

This article was originally published in issue 33 of Passive House Plus magazine. Want immediate access to all back issues and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €10, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge

“NIBE has always been ahead of the curve, and 11 years ago we were the first heat pump to be smart-grid ready and to use smartphone-styled colour information screens. The new S-series represents the next leap forward for smart heat pump technology,” said Unipipe managing director Paul O’Donnell.

The new S-series processes the local weather forecast in advance, ensuring that it can adapt to provide the ideal indoor temperature for the lowest energy consumption possible.

Thanks to Wi-Fi connection, it’s also possible to control the new S-series directly from your smartphone, and to run diagnostics remotely. It can also be controlled via common voice assistants such as Google Home and Alexa.

“The S-series also has the ability to talk with other building services such as solar PV, as well as ventilation and cooling products, and alter its behaviour based on what those other systems are doing,” O’Donnell said.

The new range also offers a sleek new design and a new openable push-door.

It has an easy-to-use user interface and can be controlled via smartphone app or directly from the touchscreen. Users can also see real time data on the heat pump’s performance via the smartphone app.

The S-series also features new “intelligent” LIN-bus communicating circulating pumps that are capable of helping to fix errors and blockages automatically.

“The new S-series is immediately available from Unipipe for ground source heat pumps, and in some models of the air source heat pump range,” O’Donnell said.

“Exhaust air heat pumps and commercial ground source heat pumps are next in line to get in S-series versions.”