International Benchmarking Analysis of Air Source Heat Pump and Chiller Standards
Article reading time: 1 min
This study offers a technical comparison of how the world’s three largest markets (China, the EU, and the US) for heat pumps and chillers define, measure, and regulate cooling efficiency.
This report presents a technical assessment of testing methods, energy efficiency metrics, and minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for air-to-water heat pumps and chillers in cooling mode across China, the European Union (EU), and the United States (US). These regions represent the largest markets for heat pump technologies, each employing distinct testing protocols, metrics, and requirements.
The analyses offer insights into how Chinese, EU, and US standards align or diverge, how performance comparisons can be made across energy efficiency standards, and where opportunities for international standard alignment exist.
Key findings:
- The US energy efficiency metric approximates 114% of China’s metric, while the EU’s metric differs by ±3% compared to China’s.
- China’s revised MEPS matches or exceeds EU and US efficiency benchmarks for low-capacity units.
- Requirements for high-capacity products in China still show room for improvement.