Viessmann installs ice store heating system in Huf Haus

Viessmann’s innovative ice store system, which recovers energy exclusively from renewable sources to heat or cool a building and to heat domestic hot water, has been installed as an integral part of a new phase of sustainable residential architecture being demonstrated at the first UK Huf Haus show home, at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. The show home has been open to the public since September last year.

The Viessmann heat pump extracts energy, as needed throughout the year, from water stored in the ice store. As this energy is used, especially during the winter heating season, the temperature of the water in the ice store falls. If the temperature in the store falls to freezing point, additional energy is obtained from the freezing of the water — hence the term ice store.

Freezing is an exothermic process, meaning that as liquid changes to solid, crystallisation energy (latent heat) is released. This latent heat is retained in the ice store system. A standard 10 m3 ice store for a detached house generates a heat gain equivalent to about 100 litres of fuel oil and is capable of 10 kW of heating output. Because the amount of latent heat released is equivalent to that required for the inverse process of thawing, in effect there is 100% energy transfer and zero losses over time.

In summer the ice store can also be used to provide natural cooling for the building’s interior. The Huf Haus show house in Weybridge is characterised by the expanse of glass synonymous with Huf Haus architecture, utilising what the company claims are unparalleled insulation, airtightness and fabric efficiency to ensure the floor-to-ceiling windows flood the interiors with natural light without compromising energy efficiency. In addition to the ice storage system taking heating and cooling technologies to the next level, the house’s photovoltaic panels on the southfacing roof are guaranteed to generate more electricity than the house needs, allowing surplus energy credit to power an electric car at the electrical ‘fuelling’ station at the front of the house. 

Viessmann are represented in the UK by Viessmann Ltd and in Ireland by distributors Precision Heating.