After the tragedy in the Opole region. We ask an expert about the safety of heat pumps

A tragic event occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Chrząstowice in the Opole region. An explosion occurred during service work on a heat pump. As reported by Junior Brig. Tomasz Pierzchała, spokesman for the Opole fire department, both household members and servicemen were injured. Two people died and one was injured. One of the fatalities was an employee, the other was a tenant.

We have contacted the Polish Organization for the Development of Heat Pump Technology “PORT PC” for a comment on the tragedy in Chrząstowice, asking whether heat pump users have reason to be concerned about their safety. The president of the organization, Paweł Lachman, provided the latest findings on yesterday’s tragedy in a commentary for our editorial team.

“The issue is not the heat pump itself”

– The details of the tragedy that took place yesterday in Chrząstowice are not yet known, but according to the latest information provided to us by an expert who was on site, the event absolutely cannot be linked to the safety of using a classic heat pump – Paweł Lachman tells “Wprost”.

– What do we know today about the circumstances of the aforementioned tragedy? Firstly, that there was a cooling device in the building – a chiller, which was adapted to work as a heat pump. Originally, it was not a heat pump intended for home heating installations. Secondly, the accident occurred not during the normal operation of this device, but during its service. Therefore, the case does not concern the heat pump itself and the safety of its use, but possible errors or negligence when accessing the cooling system. This applies to any cooling device used in buildings. In the case of service procedures, such things should absolutely not happen! – adds the head of the Polish Organization for the Development of Heat Pump Technology “PORT PC”.