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Heat pumps were a popular topic at this year’s AHR Expo, with most manufacturers prompting their offerings in this segment. Heat pumps are seen as a main weapon in the battle to stem climate change. LG Electronics specializes in heat pumps, so this was a good opportunity for the company to promote its wares.

Ken Kastl, senior regional sales manager for LG, said there is already enough movement away from natural gas in the Northeast and West Coast that heat pumps have a greater opportunity than ever before. These aren’t the heat pumps of previous generations, either. Kastl said they can provide 100% of the heat for most houses.

“We’re providing sustainability and carbon reduction,” he said. ”That’s really what we do here in the U.S.”

LG Red is the company’s version of the cold-weather heat pump. It offers continuous guaranteed operation down to -13°F. It can cool up to 118° high ambient temps. A key feature is that the inverter doesn’t have a fixed hard lockout.

“It can continue to run as long as it’s in a safe zone,” Kastl said. “That’s predicated on pressure on the transducers.”

On the commercial side, LG offers the Multi V and Multi VS. These look like residential units, Kastl said, but they operate off a commercial chassis. They come in sizes of 6 tons and above. These is also a water-sourced version.

LG is a ramping up its DOAS business, Kastl said. That’s become much more in demand due to the pandemic. LG Split Compact DOAS features a main coil and hot gas reheat coil and dehumidifies, cools, or heats outdoor air needed to ventilate an occupied space, particularly for retrofit applications with limited ceiling, pipe, or ductwork space. The DOAS features a factory-installed heat recovery section, built-in graphics in the controller, and optional AC Smart touchscreen controller.

A new LG Deluxe wireless control is debuting this spring, exclusive for the U.S. market. If offers the ability to graph energy consumption. The control will communicate through ThinQ and will monitor need for service. It can be updated remotely and becomes a pairing device for older LG equipment, Kastl said.

“The magic of all this is you have to have easy control of the system,” he said. “You can have the best indoor and outdoor system available, but if you haven’t integrated the ability to control it to the user’s benefit, then you’ve lost your customer.”

ThinQ is a key component for LG. ThinQ features include voice-activated commands and the ability to authorize remote access for technicians and schedule comfort conditions on an individual room basis. With Smart Diagnosis, users can directly ask system experts questions to enhance proper system performance and maintenance.

MAKING ITS DEBUT: LG’s inverter scroll heat pump chiller utilizes inverter technology to provide hot and cold water for both comfort and process applications. (Courtesy of LG)

The AHR Expo also marked the official debut of LG’s inverter scroll heat pump chiller (ISHPC). The LG ISHPC utilizes inverter technology to provide hot and cold water for both comfort and process applications. LG combined design attributes of VRF technology with chilled water production. This makes the system more energy efficient.

“Wherever you can apply an inverter compressor, we’d like to,” Kastl said.