Performance analysis of a novel integrated home energy system with freezing latent heat collection

A novel integrated home energy system with freezing latent heat collection was proposed to improve the overall efficiency of building energy usage. The novel unit can recycle waste heat (including sensible and freezing latent heat) from domestic drain water and condensing heat to efficiently provide space heating and cooling and domestic hot water for a household. A novel unit, whose core equipment was a parallel serpentine tube evaporator with a new de-icing technique to efficiently extract freezing latent heat, was initially constructed. The performance, annual thermal energy recycling rate, and life cycle cost of the novel unit were determined, studied, and discussed, respectively. Results showed that the coefficient of performance of the unit with de-icing technology is 10.00−20.00% higher than that of systems reported in extant literature under unfavorable condition. The annual thermal energy recycling rate was 25.00−30.00%, which is approximately 2.6 times that of systems described in literature. In addition, the life cycle cost of the unit is 10.00−35.00% lower than that of traditional units. The novel unit considerably reduces the energy consumption, environmental pollution, and related costs of buildings, thus providing practical importance and a scientific research value for improving energy efficiency, changing the original energy structure, and reducing the environmental load brought by energy conversion.