1997 ASHRAE Technology Awards: Heat Pump System for Laundry ✓ Most Recent

Super Wash House is a 4500 ft² (418 m²) coin laundry located in a shopping center in Knoxville, Tenn. With 50 washers and 43 dryers, it is probably the largest and busiest coin laundry in Knoxville and uses large amounts of hot water. Several years ago it was suggested to the owner, Bob Jessee, that commercial heat pump water heater (HPWH) would provide base load air conditioning at very low operating cost and would pay for itself quickly by pre-heating the laundry water. After the owner decided to go ahead with the project, the next step was to select a very efficient unit with the versatility to operate in varying weather conditions using widely differing incoming water temperatures.