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LG Electronics sets up heat pump research consortium in Alaska

LG Electronics is establishing a research facility in Alaska, USA to accelerate its research and development efforts in the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).

Alaska.
Alaska. - Image © Reagan - Adobe Stock.

The new research lab comes under the newly formed Consortium for Advanced Heat Pump Research (CAHR), a collaboration between LG and local universities. LG will operate the state-of-the-art facility in conjunction with the College of Engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks' HVAC Lab.

The company anticipates the joint effort will enhance the competitiveness of its HVAC products through delivering groundbreaking innovations in 'cold climate' technology. The jointly-run lab will facilitate the collection of operational data at low-temperatures, hastening the development of solutions that can reliably produce top-tier performance in the harshest climatic conditions.

LG will conduct research in two dedicated facilities: a university-owned building on the Anchorage campus and a site in Fairbanks, Alaska, that will be constructed like a real-world home. The Fairbanks facility will be equipped with a range of LG HVAC solutions, including ducted and duct-free indoor and outdoor units as well as the company's Inverter Heat Pump Water Heater.

LG and its university partners will oversee a variety of tests designed to assess performance under various environmental conditions, such as snow, rain and extremely low temperatures, and by introducing different variables that have not previously been considered in testing heat pump efficacy.

Left to right: Sean Parnell, chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, and James Lee, head of the Air Solution Business Unit at LG Electronics -