The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) have published a new fact sheet covering the licence requirements for hot water heat pumps.
The ARC notes that hot water heat pumps for household hot water or pool heating are becoming more common, largely because they consume, on average, one-third of the electricity of resistive electric storage hot water services. This equipment also uses refrigerants controlled under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989, meaning that it must only be worked on by licensed technicians.
There are three main types of hot water heat pumps available in Australia. Two of them – integrated hot water systems and integrated pool heater systems – combine the refrigeration system and heat exchanger into a single unit, so they require only electrical and water connections.
The third type is a split system comprising an outdoor unit that contains the refrigeration compressor, evaporator and fan, as well as a separate water tank containing the condenser (heat exchanger). These systems have refrigeration pipes between the two components, so they require an RAC technician with the appropriate skills and training to handle refrigerant for installation, servicing and decommissioning.
If a split system uses a controlled refrigerant, it requires a technician with an appropriate ARCtick refrigerant handling licence.
The fact sheet is available on the ARC website.
