A fenestration assembly comprising a sliding glass assembly that slides between a fully closed position and a fully open position in which the sliding glass assembly is received into a pocket of the fenestration assembly. The pocket is covered on at least one side with insulation. The fenestration assembly may have two sliding glass assemblies. The fenestration assembly may be used in an energy efficient building system.

A heat pump system with a hybrid heating system is disclosed. The heat pump system includes a first housing comprising a heat exchanger, a compressor, and a fan. The heat pump system also includes a second housing that includes a supplemental heat source that is activated when the outside air falls below a certain temperature. The second housing includes a series of dampers that permit recirculation of the air passing through the first housing so that the supplemental heat source can provide heat to the recirculated air. The supplemental heat source increases the heating capacity of the heat pump system.

An air-conditioning apparatus according to the present invention includes at least indoor heat exchangers. In response to a request to increase heat exchange performance from the indoor heat exchanger, the air-conditioning apparatus decreases a heat exchange capacity of an outdoor heat exchanger and controls an opening degree of an expansion valve corresponding to the indoor heat exchanger to decrease a flow rate of a refrigerant that flows through the indoor heat exchanger.

A system for conditioning air circulated from an interior of a building includes a refrigerant path, an air-cooled condenser in the refrigerant path, a water-cooled condenser in the refrigerant path that transfers heat from refrigerant in the refrigerant path to the building water, an evaporator in the refrigerant path, and a control system. The control system moves the system between operation of the air-cooled condenser and the water-cooled condenser based upon predetermined system conditions.

A method of automated sensing of an electrical anomaly associated with a thermostat may include switching a switching circuit within the thermostat to an on state. The switching circuit may be configured to activate an HVAC function when switched to the on state. The method may also include monitoring one or more electrical properties associated with the switching circuit. The method may additionally include determining if an electrical anomaly is associated with the switching circuit based at least in part on the monitored one or more electrical properties. The method may further include switching the switching circuit to an off state if an electrical anomaly is detected.

An air conditioning system includes a heat pump unit including a radiator usable with a refrigerant, a gas furnace unit including a heating section arranged to heat passing air, a blower arranged to generate an air flow that passes through the radiator and the heating section, and a controller configured to control each action of the heat pump unit, the gas furnace unit, and the blower. The controller operates either the heat pump unit or the gas furnace unit as a heat source unit, generates a capacity command used to variably adjust operating capacity of the heat source unit, and executes switch control in order to switch the heat source unit from either one of the heat pump unit or the gas furnace unit to the other when an operating capacity level designated in the capacity command is within a predetermined numerical range for a predetermined time.

A heat pump system may be selectively operated in a defrost mode or cycle. The system includes an energy recovery module that receives and conditions air in a regeneration air channel. A pre-processing module is positioned downstream of the energy recovery module. The pre-processing module receives and heats air from the energy recovery module. A regeneration air heat exchanger is positioned downstream of the pre-processing module. The regeneration air heat exchanger receives and conditions air from the pre-processing module. The pre-processing module heats the air from the energy recovery module to increase an efficiency of the regeneration air heat exchanger. During the defrost mode, a loop of regeneration air may be recirculated between the supply air channel and the regeneration air channel in order to defrost the regeneration air heat exchanger.

A multi-split air or ground source heat pump system designed to provide a residential application with space heating and cooling, along with supplemental hydronic heating and potable water preheating. The supplemental hydronic heating supports applications like radiant floor heating and heating swimming pools. Commercially, the multi-split air or ground source heat pump system expands on this technology to incorporate comfort and/or process heating, cooling, and hydronic heating applications utilizing multiple types of energy sources.

A fenestration assembly comprising a sliding glass assembly that slides between a fully closed position and a fully open position in which the sliding glass assembly is received into a pocket of the fenestration assembly. The pocket is covered on at least one side with insulation. The fenestration assembly may have two sliding glass assemblies. The fenestration assembly may be used in an energy efficient building system.

The invention discloses a method and apparatus for retrofitting air conditioning system using all-weather solar heating. In air conditioning system in which original single cold host is equipped with a cooling tower and a boiler, plate heat exchanger, solar collector plate, energy storage tank and circulating pipelines are provided. The cooling tower is used to absorb the heat in the winter air. The solar collector plate is used to absorb solar thermal heat and transfer to the plate heat exchanger. The single cold machine is used to absorb the heat of the antifreeze liquid. The plate heat exchanger is provided to form a secondary cycle so as to avoid icing risk of the antifreeze liquid. At the outdoor temperature more than five degrees, the indoor users is heated without operating the boiler, which maintains summer operation performance and meanwhile increases winter heating function without changing the original system.