Who can buy your heat?
Enter the temperature your loop returns at and the heat you have. The tool compares the temperature you can deliver, after the heat exchanger, with the supply window each class of off-taker typically wants, and tells you whether the temperature matches, whether a heat-pump lift would be needed, or whether it falls outside the screening range. Temperature is the first screen, not a feasibility verdict.
Deducted from your return temperature. The buyer receives —.
Sets the water flow you must deliver: — at the stated ΔT.
Indicative only. Actual contracts price by season, availability and who owns the heat pump.
The equivalent hours a year the buyer actually takes the full output. 8,760 means all year and is the theoretical ceiling; a buyer who only heats in winter is usually far below it.
≈ CAD $— per year at the stated value, counted on the heat the data centre delivers: gross revenue, not profit, before pumping, heat-pump electricity and network costs. Temperature match is only the first screen; flow, temperature drop, capacity and seasonal demand all have to line up.
Method and assumptions
- Delivered temperature = return-water temperature − heat-exchanger approach you enter.
- Temperature match: delivered temperature is at or above the lower edge of the off-taker's indicative supply window. Lift needed: within 25 K below it. Outside screening range: more than 25 K below it.
- Heat-pump lift: idealised, lift-only estimate at 50 % of Carnot between delivered temperature and the window's lower edge, capped at COP 8. The heat entered is treated as heat absorbed on the heat-pump source side: electrical input = heat ÷ (COP − 1), delivered heat = heat + electrical input. It ignores exchanger approaches on the heat-pump side, part load, auxiliaries and seasonal performance.
- Water flow = heat ÷ (4.18 kJ/kg·K × ΔT), water properties at ~50 °C.
- Annual heat = continuous heat × effective hours of off-take; the default 8,760 h means full off-take all year, the theoretical ceiling.
- Windows are indicative supply temperatures drawn from published engineering practice for each class: legacy 2nd/3rd-generation district heating, single-effect LiBr absorption chillers (hot-water machines are mostly rated at 90 °C, with a practical floor near 80 °C; check the maker's curve), industrial wash and pre-heat duties, 4th-generation district heating (some ultra-low-temperature networks run below 45 °C), greenhouse pipe-rail heating, aquaculture (species-specific), low-temperature building emitters, pools and domestic-hot-water pre-heat (final DHW temperature and legionella control need a separate top-up). Verify against the actual buyer's system.
Questions this page answers
What supply temperature does each kind of heat buyer need?
Fourth-generation district heating typically wants 45–70 °C supply and legacy networks 70–95 °C; greenhouses 35–60 °C depending on the emitter; aquaculture, pools and low-temperature building heating a 30–55 °C source; a heat pump can use almost any grade above 10 °C. The tool compares the temperature you can deliver after the heat exchanger with each buyer's window. Why return-water grade comes first →
Does the tool account for the heat-exchanger approach?
Yes. You enter the approach across the export heat exchanger, and the tool subtracts it from your return temperature before comparing with each buyer's supply window. A 55 °C return with a 5 K approach delivers 50 °C, which is why a few kelvin of approach can move a buyer from direct to heat-pump lift.
If the temperature matches, will a heat buyer sign?
Not on temperature alone. Temperature is the first screen; whether a contract closes depends on load profile and seasonality, distance and pumping cost, availability and back-up, and the commercial terms. The tool tells you which buyers are physically possible so those conversations start with the right ones. Heat-reuse solutions →