Mitsubishi Electric: innovative heating and cooling in hotels

An excellent guest experience in a hotel starts with an optimal indoor climate, in terms of temperature, humidity and air quality. A high-quality and expertly installed HVAC system is therefore the backbone of a comfortable hotel environment. At its recent partner event Heat Pump Days, Mitsubishi Electric presented numerous innovative solutions in energy-efficient heating and cooling, including for the hotel sector.

On 24 and 25 April 2024, Mitsubishi Electric organised the second edition of Heat Pump Days in Boom. The leading manufacturer of solutions in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration rolled out the carpet for customers and partners who wanted to discover the very latest appliances. "The hotel sector is an important and similarly challenging one for us, as hotel buildings are often a complex environment for the installation of a professional heating or cooling system," says Rudy Gielen, Manager Corporate Sales at Mitsubishi Electric Belgium. "Fortunately, we have a wide range of appliances and the necessary expertise on board to provide tailor-made assistance to every hotel operator."

Whether maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature, supplying healthy air in hotel rooms or producing domestic hot water in large quantities, a well-designed and installed HVAC system is vital to keeping hotel guests and staff happy and optimising a hotel's operational performance.

Rudy explains, "One of the main benefits of a professional HVAC system is the comfort and well-being of hotel guests. Guests expect an environment where they can feel comfortable, whether they are sleeping, relaxing, working or dining. By creating a consistent, pleasant temperature and air quality in all hotel areas, hotel guests enjoy a pleasant stay. A well-designed ventilation system can also improve air quality by removing pollutants and minimising allergens."

Of course, installing a professional HVAC system also brings challenges, especially in a complex environment such as a hotel. Rudy: "Hotels often have several rooms with different heating, ventilation and cooling requirements, which can make the design and implementation of the system complex. In addition, as a hotel operator, you need to consider factors such as space constraints, aesthetics and noise levels to ensure the system fits seamlessly into the existing infrastructure and meets your guests' expectations. During our Heat Pump Days, we showed some innovative solutions that combine performance and reliability with energy efficiency."

Which tailor-made hotel solutions does Rudy want to highlight? "Mitsubishi Electric's unique hybrid VRF technology is specifically designed for flexible and energy-efficient building planning with high efficiency and comfort," he confirms. "For those in the know, a VRF system is an air-conditioning system with one outdoor unit and one piping circuit, and is branched to multiple indoor units. In other words, you can heat or cool different rooms. Our hybrid VRF technology combines the strengths of a classic VRF system with those of a water-conducting system. In the hotel sector, hybrid VRF R2 systems perform particularly well, as a hotel guest can control the temperature in each room as they wish and decide whether to heat or cool the room. Mitsubishi Electric's CO2 heat pump is also an indispensable innovation for hotels. We developed this system specifically to produce a large volume of hot tap water. Wherever there is a high demand for hot water - so also in a hotel - our CO2 heat pump delivers reliable performance."

By the way, in this hybrid application - with the switch from refrigerant to water - there are no refrigerant pipes running through the hotel rooms. "As a result, not only do we create a safer hotel environment, but there is also up to eighty percent less CO2 equivalent, a Green Deal measure that the EU wants to achieve by 2030," Rudy points out. "By the way, specifically for hotels, we have developed a vertical HVAC box to save space in sometimes cramped hotel rooms. All units are managed in the cloud, allowing us to offer every hotel customer an excellent service. This includes remote monitoring and service, setting predefined temperature setpoints or forwarding reports to the customer."

By the way, how about a user-friendly and trendy controller to remotely control the temperature in hotel rooms? Rudy: "With the PAR-CT01MAA Touch Remote Controller, you give your hotel guest the ability to control the room temperature via smartphone - for example, by using the room number. Nice to know here is that we can personalise the display of this unit with a company logo."