Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Oklahoma's ClimateMaster Inc. have collaborated to develop a ground source heat pump that can reduce a homeowner's electric bill by up to 60 percent. The Trilogy 40 is the first geothermal heat pump certified by the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute to achieve a space cooling efficiency rating in excess of 40 EER (energy efficiency ratio). An EER rating of 13.5 is typical of conventional heat pumps. For a family living in a 2,600-square-foot well-insulated home, that translates into average annual savings of $300 to $500 vs. today's state-of-the-art and minimum efficiency heat pumps, respectively. Savings could be much greater for individual cases. The Trilogy 40 is the culmination of a five-year cooperative research and development agreement and advances the integrated heat pump concept developed by ORNL. The U.S. Department of Energy and ORNL have a long tradition of researching, testing and verifying heat pump technology.
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