It may sound impossible, but heating with ice is a thing! In 2013, a laboratory in Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany, started using ice to store energy for heating and cooling. With a capacity of 1,000,000 litres of water, this “ice storage” is one of Europe’s largest commercially operated ice storage systems for heating and cooling use
In winter, energy is extracted from the water using a heat pump to heat the air-conditioned laboratory air and the ice storage slowly freezes over. In summer, the building’s laboratory air is cooled with the stored cold via a pipe system in the floor and the ice storage slowly thaws again. The ice storage can release both heat and cold at the same time.
This reduces heating and cooling demands by 59% compared to conventional methods.
Located under the laboratory’s car park, the ice storage tank contributes to a reduction of 70 tonnes of CO2 per year.
More information here.
