Even those who fulfil their dreams of living on a houseboat can manage to be environmentally aware, cut back on their energy use and attain a good indoor climate. Danfoss designed the entire, energy-saving indoor climate solution for the Unique Floating Object, or UFO, from CC Design A/S, in which energy use has been reduced compared to traditional heating methods without cutting back on comfort. Using indirect solar energy stored in the sea, a heat pump produces heat and hot water while the indoor climate is controlled through a ventilation system with heat recovery, so that energy used in maintaining the perfect indoor climate is kept down.
"The annual average temperature of Copenhagen Harbour is approximately 9° C. It is therefore possible to extract heat from the seawater by laying a coil wrapped with hoses on the seabed beneath the houseboat, and by using the heat pump, we can than exploit the energy for heating floor heaters and domestic water used," explains Mads Rasmussen, Product Solution Manager at Danfoss A/S Sales in Denmark.
"It has been both challenging and exciting to work with a comprehensive indoor climate solution on the UFO houseboat, and being able to draw on our many years of experience and great technological knowledge has been a great advantage. At the same time, it was important for us to create a solution that could be used in new constructions, renovation and low-energy homes, as well as one that could be expanded for use on a greater scale. The solution we decided upon can, for example, be used in multi-storey buildings or townhouses," says Mads Rasmussen.
Danfoss' starting point is to combine sustainable building and energy savings with contemporary lifestyles through the use of both new and existing solutions.
That is why we are extremely pleased that the EU Parliament has given our heat pump technology its blue stamp of approval in the form of a directive recognising heat pumps as one of the environmentally friendly technologies of the future.
You can read more about the individual products used on the unique UFO houseboat to create the energy-efficient, optimal indoor climate by clicking on the links below.