Pipelife Ireland has introduced an indoor heat pump tailored for Irish apartment buildings, solving typical installation hurdles in confined spaces. The new Inova model, unveiled in July, runs on R290 (propane) refrigerant—a low-global-warming-potential alternative—and contains a sealed refrigerant charge of just 450 grams, complying with indoor safety regulations. Pipelife has been supplying heat pumps to the Irish market since 2009, with more than 10,000 units sold, alongside a fast-growing mechanical ventilation business.
The design consolidates the fan, coil, compressor, and expansion valve into a single component installed entirely inside the dwelling. Air intake and exhaust occur through ductwork, with built-in safety features including a gas separator to prevent refrigerant entering the water circuit and an internal gas sensor that ramps the fan to 100 per cent to dissipate any leak to outside. Unlike many rival products, its performance metrics account for realistic conditions: placement 10 meters from an external wall with three 90-degree bends in the ducting. The unit was stress-tested under these deliberately punishing conditions to reflect real-world Irish apartment layouts, where external wall installations are impractical due to daylight regulations and spatial constraints.
Eoghan Considine, Specification Manager at Pipelife Ireland, noted that architects seldom position heat pumps on exterior walls due to spatial limitations. “Nobody’s going to put a heat pump on an external wall, architects have to balance daylight regulations along with everything else, so they won’t have the space to do it,” he said. The company’s testing process mirrors actual installation scenarios rather than idealized laboratory settings, with published performance figures based on worst-case ducting configurations. This approach ensures engineers can confidently design systems knowing the unit will perform even under challenging conditions.
Compact design meets Irish apartment challenges
The Inova delivers 3.2 kW of heating output and includes app connectivity, meeting EN 14825 standards, with additional EN 16147 hot water performance data available. It integrates with a separate hot water cylinder, pre-installed at Pipelife’s Cork facility, to streamline future maintenance. The cylinder’s separation was a deliberate design choice, as it typically outlasts heat pumps, allowing individual components like the fan or compressor to be replaced without disturbing the plumbing. A column-mounted inline version is under development for future release, offering a more compact visual profile for certain installations.
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Unlike combined heat pump-ventilation systems, the Inova separates heating and ventilation functions. Considine emphasized that dedicated systems outperform hybrid designs. “The best heat pumps on the market just function as heat pumps. The best ventilation systems just function as ventilation systems,” he said. “Why combine things to make them a little bit worse?” The company offers the unit alongside its own MEV or MVHR ventilation systems as complete installation packages, providing cost-competitive alternatives to combined exhaust air units while allowing independent specification and servicing.
Passive house fit and net-zero ambitions
For passive house apartment developments, the Inova presents a more straightforward and economical option compared to compact combined units. Its configuration aligns with Irish contractors’ experience using monoblock heat pumps, simplifying both installation and upkeep. The heat pump also lands amid a wider sustainability push at the group, part of Wienerberger’s Pipelife division, which manufactures in 28 countries. The company has published seven environmental product declarations to date, and aims to have EPDs for everything it manufactures by 2028, with a group target that 75 per cent of products manufactured or sold support net zero construction.
This launch follows Pipelife’s extensive history in Ireland, where it has sold over 10,000 heat pumps alongside expanding mechanical ventilation operations. The Inova was engineered in-house with a manufacturing partner, leveraging expertise in heat pumps, ventilation, and Irish building codes. The Cork facility, formed by merging local businesses, incorporated 7,000 tonnes of recycled materials in 2025, with a goal to more than double that figure to 15,000 tonnes by 2030.
The company’s sustainability initiatives go beyond product development. Its Cork facility operates on 100% renewable electricity. The heat pump’s design ensures compliance with Irish building standards while addressing practical challenges faced by contractors and developers. Servicing the Inova requires no external access, all maintenance is conducted within the apartment, supported by installer training sessions held biweekly in Dublin and Cork, and each unit includes a clear homeowner manual alongside technical documentation.
