[E-Daily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] LGELECTRONICS is launching a pilot project for “boiler-free apartments” that replaces existing boilers and gas piping with heat pumps. This marks the first instance in South Korea where a heat pump system—combining individual unit heating and cooling with a central hot water supply—is being installed in an apartment complex where residents actually live.

LGELECTRONICS announced on the 15th that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Jeju International Convention Center with Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the Jeju Development Corporation, and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology to promote the “Electrification of Heating and Cooling in Multi-Unit Housing and P2H (Power to Heat) Demonstration Project.”

The demonstration site is the Shinhyo Apartment complex located in Hyodong, Seogwipo City, Jeju. The building consists of one basement level and seven above-ground floors, and currently houses 12 resident households. Design work is scheduled to be completed by this October, followed by construction, with completion expected in December, after which full-scale operational demonstrations will begin.

LGELECTRONICS will be responsible for the overall design of the heat pump system, the supply of high-efficiency products, commissioning and maintenance, and performance evaluation based on operational data. Jeju Province will handle institutional improvements and policy coordination, while the Jeju Development Corporation will provide the demonstration building and manage system operations. The Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) will carry out the design of the P2H system and data analysis.

This demonstration will apply an apartment complex electrification model that combines heat pump heating and cooling systems installed in each unit with a central hot water supply system for the building’s common areas. The heat pumps in each unit use a single outdoor unit to provide both cooling and underfloor heating, reducing the space required for outdoor unit installation while allowing each household to individually control heating and cooling.

Hot water is supplied centrally. An air-source heat pump and a large-capacity hot water storage tank are installed in the unused space of the building’s first-floor pilotis to supply hot water to all households at once. Since there is no need to install bulky hot water storage tanks in each household, indoor space can be utilized more efficiently.

P2H is a technology that converts surplus electricity generated from renewable energy sources, such as solar power, into thermal energy, stores it, and then uses it for heating or hot water supply. It is explained that this technology can help reduce the imbalance between electricity demand and supply while also helping residents save on energy costs.

LGELECTRONICS has been operating its global heat pump business since 2008 and entered the domestic system boiler market in 2011. In 2018, it supplied Korea’s first residential all-in-one heat pump boiler. In this year’s “Heat Pumps in Daily Life” dissemination project conducted by Jeju Province, the company secured contracts for the largest number of households out of the total volume for both the first and second halves of the year.

Based on the operational data collected from this demonstration, LGELECTRONICS plans to establish a “Korean-style standard model for the electrification of multi-unit housing” that can be applied to public rental housing, existing apartment renovations, and new construction complexes.

Oh Se-gi, Executive Vice President and Head of the ES Research Institute at LGELECTRONICS, stated, “It is significant that we are validating heat pump models for heating, cooling, and hot water supply—optimized for multi-unit housing—in actual apartment buildings where residents live,” adding, “We will lead the transition toward decarbonization and electrification in the domestic residential sector.”