ThermAtlantic has extended its line of stainless steel water tanks to include a new combi tank designed for a variety of hydronic applications including 4 pipe on demand heating and cooling along with domestic hot water preheat for the residential market.  

ThermAtlantic's New SUS-DUP-66-1C-4P+53G-4P Combi Tank

Featuring two independent insulated tanks on top of one another with a single indirect coil in the lower tank, both tanks have 4 x 1-1/4" FNPT buffer tank ports and thermal wells with the lower tank also having additional 1" and 1-1/2" FNPT ports for optional electric element bundles.  In addition, both tanks for T&P ports and 3/4" drain ports.

ThermAtlantic designed these tanks with two common residential configurations in mind:

1. Two pipe space heating & cooling installations using the top tank for hot or chilled water with the lower tank being reserved for DHW preheat when used as a revers indirect tank where potable cold water is pre-heated instantly as it passes through the stainless steel coil surrounded by hot water all year 'round. 
2. Four pipe on-demand heating and cooling applications where top tank is for chilled water and lower tank is for hot water with its coil providing instantanious domestic hot water preheat.

In order to take advantage of both these application configurations, ThermAtlantic offers a pair of 1-1/4" 3 way diversion valves with the DX2W-EX3 module so that the heat exchanger can heat or cool the water in one or the other tank based on outdoor temperature and corresponding priority logic .  Upgtrading to one of these more complex applications also requires a software update over the internet - something easy to do with ThermAtlantic's products thanks to their cloud-based internet monitoring service.

These tanks can also be used in a number of other applications where space saving and indirect coils are required.

In it's latest release, ThermAtlantic has upgraded their controls for the DX2W-EX3 indoor split modules to include support for radiant cooling, biomass boilers and solar heating.  This means that installations wanting to take advantage of these capabilities can do so without necessarily needing to use 3rd party controls to do so.  

DX2W-EX3 Indoor Split Air to Water Heat Pump Module	Typical residential installation

Radiant Cooling Support

Although ThermAtlantic has been supporting radiant cooling for over a decade, customers who wished to do so had to have their controllers re-wired and software updated with a custom version so that the mixing valve could be used to modulate chilled water temperature above the dewpoint.  Now, with the release of the new version, all units come radiant panel cooling ready with only the purchase of the optional radiant cooling kit necessary.  This kit is comprised of a wall mounted dewpoint transmitter meant to be installed in the largest common area of the home and wired back to the DX2W-EX3.  It also includes a condensate alawm which is meant to be strapped to the radiant panel manifold so as to detect any unwanted condensate, which when found, disables radiant cooling as a safety measure. It is important that installations in humid climates install a dehumidification source like the company's DEH-02 chilled water coil and blower or that at least one or more fan coils be present to maintain relative indoor humidity below 50%.

Terminal Connections for Radiant Cooling	Optional Radiant Cooling Kit

Biomass Boiler & Solar Heating Support

Support for biomass boilers and solar heating is made possible by allowing buffer tanks to be overheated beyond the target normally used by the air to water heat pump while maintaining supply temperatures using outdoor reset by modulating the same 3 way mixing valve used for radiant cooling applications.  This feature greatly simplifies the use of biomass boilers and solar heating by eiliminating the need for 3rd party controls.  It should be noted, however, that the use of larger buffer tanks is preferable with large biomass boilers and solar thermal arrays so that there is enough thermal storage capacity to capture the heat being produced by these devices.

Be sure to consult with ThermAtlantic about your design to ensure you address thermal storage, thermal protection, the need for indirect tanks or hydaulic isolation for solar arrays & dump zones.  We can provide any additional controls and sensors to integrate most biomass boilers or solar heating arrays with our DX2W-EX3 to be used either as primary, secondary or backup heat sources. 

ThermAtlantic's latest DX2W-EX3 series now offers native support for most cold climate inverters which extend their operating range down to -25°C in winter while extending heating capacity as much as 60% thanks to the Enhanced vapour injetion. The 3rd party heat pump outdoor units supported by ThermAtlantic now includes central split inverters with 24VAC thermostat support which include Gree Flexx models now being stocked by ThermAtlantic.  Gree and Midea manufacture at least 80% of the cold climate inverters on the market here today under a dozen different brand names so any of them aimed at central splits with 24V support will work with the DX2W-EX3.

Gree Flexx 3 & 5 Ton Outdoor Heat Pumps with DX2W-EX3 indoor unit

Controls Update

Installers will now have a choice of specifying whether outdoor units use O for Cooling or B for Heating, the later of which is now standard on most inverters.  Unlike traditional North American made heat pumps which default to heating mode and need to be told to go into cooling mode, these newer models default to cooling and need to be told to go into heating mode instead.

Performance Results

Beta testers of the recently released DX2W-EX3 series using Gree Flexx 3 & 5 ton outdoor units provided ThermAtlantic with valuable performance data thanks to the company'scloud-based  internet monitoring service.  Over the past two winters, these installations have shown that using the latest EVI inverters not only extends the operating envelope down to -25°C but more importantly broaden the heating capacity by as much as 60% when compared to the previous generation of coventional heat pumps.  For example, when most older models were putting out 9-10kW on a specific winter day, a new inverter in the same neighborohoud was putting out 15-16 kW. This translated into lower auxilliary backup balance points and less reliance on electric or gas boilers for backup on cold days.

Other Benefits

Working with these next generation cold climate EVI inverter heat pumps has shown that they are quieter outside, don't cause the lights to dim when they start-up slowly, tend not to short-cycle as easily and manage refrigeration charge issues intelligently.  For example, with conventional heat pumps an over-charged system would trip out on high pressure when it got cold and an under-charged system would ice-up more quickly and trip out on high discharger temp repeatedly until eventually compressor might fail.  The new inverters have very large liquid receivers which allow additional charge to accumulate without necessarily causing high pressure conditions.  Under low refrigerant conditions they modulate compressor speed down to stay below dangerous discharge temperatures and can keep a system running down to a ridiculously low refrigreant level before shutting down on safety.  With the DX2W-EX3's regrigeration analysis capabilities it is possible to see liquid sub-cooling and determine whether units are over or under charged in order to maximize performance and efficiency.  

Inverters are the future

After two years of remote field trials across Canada and the USA, ThermAtlantic is now recommending that cold climate inverter heat pumps be used for most applications.  However, installers still have the option of using conventional heat pumps and air conditioners if they choose - a practice still appropriate in rural areas where servicing the new models may prove to be more challenging than conventional models.  With the DX2W-EX3 customers will have the flexibility to choose which technology to use outdoors thanks to ThermAtlantic's open standards approach to systems integration with third party products.

The installation centers around two of our modular split air to water heat pumps connected in parallel to a low loss header to heat one of our 120 gal buffer tanks which then supplies hot water to the low temp radiators throughout the building and to one of our 120 gal indirect tanks for domestic hot water preheat.  100°F preheated potable water then feeds two 80 gal heat pump water heaters responsible for topping up and storing DHW at 128°F.  Lastly, there is one of our hydronic high wall mount fan coils to keep the mechanical room warm for efficient DHW production and recirculation circulator to provide instant hot water and minimize water utilization.

Photo showing two DX2W-EX indoor split air to water heat pump modules connected in parallel.

Photo showing ECM smart circulator for heating system, 15 kW backup electric boiler,
120 gal buffer tank and 120 gal indirect tank.

The entire mechanical system is monitored and controlled on-line using our IOT gateway option and some custom dashboards which were developed as part of the project offer.  The initial view offers an overview of the mechanical room showing real-time values overlayed on top of the mechanical design.  This is the view most often used by the building supervisor to see how the system is running or if there are any issues with heating or DHW.

Screen Capture of IOT Web App showing mechanical room overview with real-time values and settings.

More detailed and technical information is provided by a diagnostic dashboard which provides both real-time and historical trend data on all key data points needed to asses both refrigeration and hydronic performance of the system as shown below in a snippet showing the bottom half of the screen.

Screen Capture of IOT Web App showing refrigeration and hydronic diagnostics.

Overall, this installation in Dartmouth, NS exemplifies many of our products working together and taking full advantatge of the IOT capabilities available.  Anyone with interest in learning more about using our products in similar installations is encouraged to contact us by phone or email. 

Mechanical illustration of the mechanical room. (doesn't show 4 heat pumps outside)

Our design uses four 5 ton Goodman air source heat pumps connected to one of our 20 ton 4 pipe DX2W-3 modules to heat a 200 gal buffer tank to a target temperature of 100-115°F all year round.  This tank first pre-heats three 120 gal indirect tanks filled with potable water between 90-110°F.  This pre-heated DHW is then fed into three more indirect tanks with double coils and a 5 ton high temp water source heat pump is used to boost the DHW to a target temperature of 125-135° using the lower coils.  The WSHP uses the same 200 gal buffer tank water to run through its evaporator so that it can produce the 135-145°F water temperatures needed to raise the DHW.  Two 42 kW electric boilers are used for backup and supplementary heat and are connected to the top coils of the three top-up tanks in the event that the heat pumps can't meet the DHW demand in a timely fashion.

The entire installation was plumbed by Quality Mechanical and is connected to our cloud-based monitoring service so that we could optimize performance, detect problems, diagnose them and record historical performance.  The system was started-up on March 5th, 2020 and after it's first year we were able to determine it's annual performance as summarized below:

The Graph shows energy use and annual performance after the first year.

Photo showing he 4 x 5 ton residential heat pumps outside

Photo showing 20 ton DX2W-3 module connecred to 200 gal buffer tank inside and linesets going to 4 heat pumps.

Photo showing 3 of our dual coil indirect 120 gal tanks used for DHW pre-heat using buffer tank as heat source.

Photo showing High-Temp R-134A WSHP used to boost preheated water to 130°F using bottom coils of 3 more indirect tanks used to store DHW.  Note that WSHP uses same buffer tank as preheat as the evaporative source.

Photo showing two 42 kW electric boilers for redundant backup.  These are piped to the top coils of the DHW indirect tanks and only called-upon when needed.

Photo showing the control panel which is connectred to the internet via one of our IOT Pro gateways.

One of the things that makes a ThermAtlantic solution unique is that we include all the automation in our price and offer internet access and remote support on a modest annual fee based basis. 

Web Dashboard showing real-time and historical performance

Web Dashboard used for remote management of the mechanical systems

Anyone interested in learning more about building a DHW hydronic cascade is welcome to contact us by phone or email.

Smaller and commodity items have free or fixed shipping while larger products can be added to the shopping cart and checked out as a sales order so that we can provide shipping cost and finalize the order before it is processed.  We welcome any suggestions and feedback reagrding this change in pricing policy.

On October 23, 2019 at the Halifax Convention Center, ThermAtlantic Energy Products Inc was awarded the Bright Business Award for Innovation.  This recognition was for the work the company has been doing in NS over the past 5 years within the Multi-Unit Residential Building (MURB) market with its commercial DX2W-3 line of air to water heat pumps, cloud-based performance monitoring service and tenant sub-metering solution. 

You can watch a short video produced by Efficiency Nova Scotia here:  

Four Aaon CF-20 Heat Pump Condensers up on the roof in Phase-1.  They are used for heating, air
conditioning and domestic hot water production.  Phase-2 will add another three units to the roof.

Three of four ThermAtlantic 20 Ton DX2W-3 Modules in rooftop mechanical room.  Room has been fitted
for three more 20 ton units for the 2nd phase of construction for a total of 140 tons. 

Photo showing the two 6" diameter low loss headers connecting rooftop to basement mechanical rooms.
Low loss headers make it possible for water to be distributed over 5 stories apart with virtually no
additional pumping power.  

Basement mechanical room showing 1 million BTU natural gas boiler used for backup heat 
and domestic hot water top-up.

Basement mechanical room showing three 175 gal buffer tanks used for both heating and cooling.

Basement mechanical room showing three pre-heat and three top-up domestic 120 gal hot water 
indirect dual coil tanks.  The first three tanks are preheated by the heat pumps between 100-120°F
during the winter and topped-up by the boiler loop as needed using the last three tanks. 

The hydronic design we came up with for this project required us to locate the condensers up on the roof along with our DX2W-3 modules but keep the heavy and bulky storage tanks, domestic hot water and backup boiler in the parking garage mechanical room.  This was accomplished by using a 6" diam low loss header to connect the rooftop and parking garage mechanical rooms along with a smaller 3" loop for domestic hot water preheat.  Our building automation platform controls and monitors the eight 10 ton refrigeration stages, 1 MBTU natural gas boiler, 3 x 175 USG stainless steel buffer tanks, 3 x 120 USG stainless steel indirect water tanks for preheat along with another 3 x 120 USG stainless steel indirect tanks for domestic hot water top-up and storage and finally a snow melt system.  Eleven Wilo Stratos Smart ECM circulators are used throughout the installation and feature dual heads for redundancy in all mission critical circuits.  

In response we came up with the first three models in a series of high quality 316-L stainless steel tanks which offer a generous number of ports and a volume range designed to meet the needs of both residential and commercial customers.  We came up with an 80 USG 4 port buffer tank using 1-1/2" ports for the residential and light commercial markets where they can be used as hydraulic separators, thermal storage as well as for potable water storage if desired.  We also came up with a 200 USG model using 4 x 2-1/2" ports to serve our commercial customers.  Lastly we added a 120 USG indirect tank with double, extra large coils for heating domestic hot water using an external heat source.  All tanks come with a full compliment of thermal wells, optional 1" and 1-1/2" auxiliary electric heat ports,T&P relief ports and a drain.  All tanks are insulated with 2" of polyurethane foam and surrounded with an attractive metalic jacket with labels clearly identifying each port.

80 USG Buffer Tank	200 USG Buffer Tank	120 USG Indirect Tank
SUS-316L-080G-4P+	SUS-316L-200G-4P+	SUS-316L-120G-2C

The first container of tanks is expected to arrive in Halifax around the middle of February.  We already have one third of them spoken for and encourage customers in the Maritimes to pre-order in advance to reserve inventory.

Photos of our Tenant Sub-Metering Products at the Vüze in Halifax, NS  

Screen shots of our web-based Dashboards

Also underway is the 109 apartment unit installation at Velo on 2300 Gottingen Street in Halifax.  This building will be heated and cooled using our full product mix of air to water heat pumps, fan coils and tenant sub-metering systems.  The photos below show how our potable pulse water meters are being installed along with our high frequency pulse flow meters and temperature sensors used for BTU metering in both heating and cooling modes.

Photos of our potable water and flow meters at Velo on 2300 Gottingen St. in Halifax, NS

Back in March of this year we installed a centralized version of our tenant sub-metering system at Q-Lofts on 5662 Roberts Street in Halifax.  This 72 unit condo development had been built with potable water meters and flow meters pre-installed and home-run to a central closet.  We therefore designed a pulse and flow metering panel which is able to record water and thermal energy consumption for every unit.  

Photos of Centralized Tenant Sub-metering Panel and Reports at Q-Lofts in Halifax, NS.