Philippine Food Processors Pay ₱17/kWh for Steam Heat.
The Real Cost With iHEAT: ₱2.50.
Steam boilers run at 45-55% system efficiency after flue, blowdown, and distribution losses. iHEAT R290 and CO₂ deliver process heat to 90°C at COP 4.0 — a 78% cost reduction with sub-6-month payback.
Why Food Processors Are Replacing Boilers
Steam boilers are the largest energy cost in most Philippine food processing plants. Four factors are driving the transition to heat pumps.
Boiler Efficiency: 45-55% Real-World
Most steam boilers are rated at 80-85% gross efficiency, but real-world system efficiency — after flue losses, blowdown, condensate losses, and distribution — drops to 45-55%. Use our Boiler Energy Flow Analyser to see where your energy goes.
SEC PFRS S2 Compliance
Philippine listed food companies must disclose Scope 1 emissions. Diesel and LPG combustion in steam boilers creates direct Scope 1 liability. iHEAT eliminates on-site combustion entirely, simplifying climate disclosure under SEC PFRS S2.
Process Temperature Range
Many food processes operate at 60-90°C — well within heat pump range. Pasteurisation (72-85°C), CIP (85-90°C), tank heating (65-75°C), and blanching (70-85°C) can all be served by iHEAT CO₂ at COP 4.0, eliminating the need for steam entirely.
Production Reliability
Boiler failures halt production lines. iHEAT modular N+1 architecture means no single point of failure. Multiple parallel heat pump modules with iSTOR thermal buffer ensure continuous process heat even during maintenance or peak demand surges.
Process Temperatures Served by iHEAT
iHEAT CO₂ delivers precise temperature control to 90°C, covering the majority of food processing thermal loads.
Pasteurisation
HTST and batch pasteurisation for dairy, juice, sauces, and ready meals. Precise ±1°C control meets HACCP requirements.
CIP Washing
Clean-in-place hot water for process lines, tanks, and filling equipment. Eliminates the need for a dedicated CIP boiler.
Tank Heating
Jacketed tank heating for mixing, dissolving, and holding processes. Consistent temperature without steam coil fouling.
Recommended Products for Food Processing
Industrial-grade heat pump systems designed for continuous production environments.
iHEAT R290
6-350kW. COP 4.0-5.0. Primary process hot water to 65°C for tank heating, pre-heating, and domestic hot water.
iHEAT CO₂
High-temperature process heat to 90°C. COP 4.0. Pasteurisation, CIP, and sterilisation-grade hot water.
iSTOR
Phase-change thermal buffer. 33-80kWh. Absorbs demand spikes during batch processes without oversizing heat pumps.
iSAVE
Smart energy platform. AI load prediction, carbon reporting, and integration with SCADA/BMS for production scheduling.
Food Manufacturer, Bulacan
A food manufacturer in Bulacan replaced diesel-fired process heating across pasteurisation and CIP lines with Karnot iHEAT. The facility operates 16-20 hours per day, 6 days per week, with significant thermal demand for batch pasteurisation at 72-85°C and CIP at 85°C. The installation achieved a sub-6-month payback driven by the high utilisation hours and 78% reduction in thermal energy cost. Annual savings exceed ₱1.4 million.
Engineering Tools for Food Processing
Free calculators to model your boiler replacement project.
Behind your meter. Sized to your load. Not to the Meralco cap.
Most Filipino businesses have been sold solar that covers only 20% of consumption. That is not a regulatory cap — it is what solar gives you without storage. The DOE's April 2026 circular lifted net metering to 1 MW for commercial sites; and if your solar only feeds your own site, never exporting to the grid (Meralco calls this Zero Export), there is no cap at all. The missing piece is storage that actually matches your load — which on most industrial and commercial sites is mostly thermal, not electrical.
1 · Karnot iVOLT solar & LiFePO₄
Solar inverters and LiFePO₄ batteries sized to the roof you actually have. LiFePO₄ chemistry chosen for tropical safety — no thermal runaway, 6,000+ cycle life. Configured for Zero Export so the only cap is your own daytime demand.
2 · Karnot iHEAT & iCOOL
R290 heat pumps for hot water, process heat, and reversible air conditioning; CO₂ for refrigeration. The heat pump is the largest customer of the iVOLT battery — absorbing solar before it gets exported and banking it as heating or cooling capacity instead.
3 · Thermal batteries that aren't lithium
iSTOR phase-change batteries for hot water and process heat, Permafrost for chilled water and cold-chain. 5–10× cheaper per kWh than lithium for thermal loads — with the Karnot FLX coconut-based PCM in development, sourced from the next province over.
We do not sell solar. We do not sell heat pumps. We do not sell batteries. We sell the integrated Philippine solution that lets all three actually work together — behind your meter, sized to your real load, with thermal storage that matches what your site actually consumes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a heat pump replace a steam boiler in food processing?
Yes, for processes up to 90°C. iHEAT CO₂ delivers hot water at 90°C with COP 4.0, replacing steam for pasteurisation (72-85°C), CIP (85-90°C), and tank heating (65-75°C). Processes above 90°C still require steam but often represent only a small fraction of total thermal load.
What is the real cost per kWh of a steam boiler vs heat pump?
A diesel-fired steam boiler delivers heat at approximately ₱17/kWh when accounting for 45-55% real-world system efficiency. iHEAT delivers heat at approximately ₱2.50/kWh at Philippine electricity rates — a 78% reduction in thermal energy cost.
What is the payback period for a Karnot installation?
Sub-12-month paybacks are realistic on integrated retrofits combining solar (Karnot iVOLT), heat pumps (iHEAT R290 or iCOOL CO₂), and thermal storage (iSTOR or Permafrost) at sites paying full commercial Meralco tariff. Standalone retrofits pay back more conservatively — iMESH adiabatic chiller upgrade typically under 12 months, DHW-only retrofit replacing LPG or diesel in 18–24 months. Most installations qualify for BOI Pioneer status and Income Tax Holiday under RA 11285, which shortens payback further. Karnot files the BOI registration paperwork as part of project scope.
What about reliability and uptime?
iHEAT systems use N+1 modular architecture — multiple parallel heat pump modules ensure no single point of failure. iSTOR thermal batteries absorb demand spikes and bridge any maintenance windows, so production lines are never interrupted.
Does iHEAT comply with food safety standards?
Yes. iHEAT delivers precise temperature control within ±1°C, meeting HACCP, FDA Philippines, and ISO 22000 requirements. All wetted components are food-grade stainless steel, and the system maintains required pasteurisation hold times automatically.
Why am I being told my solar can only cover 20% of my electricity bill?
That 20% figure is not a regulatory cap — it is the daytime self-consumption ceiling that solar gives you without storage. Two routes raise it: (1) the DOE's April 2026 circular lifted the net metering cap to 1 MW for commercial sites, and (2) if your solar only feeds your own site, never exporting to the grid (Meralco calls this Zero Export), there is no capacity cap at all. The binding constraint is your ability to absorb daytime generation — which is exactly what Karnot heat pumps plus thermal storage solve, by banking solar as heating, cooling, and hot water for night-time dispatch.
How does Karnot help with Meralco demand charges?
Meralco commercial bills include a demand charge based on the highest 15-minute kVA peak in the billing period. Heat pumps charging a Permafrost or iSTOR thermal battery overnight or during off-peak hours dispatch hot water and chilled water during the daytime peak, so the heat-pump compressor can be sized smaller and run at lower nameplate during the peak window. This shaves the 15-minute peak — often the single largest controllable line on a Philippine commercial electricity bill.
How is Karnot different from MSpectrum, Solaric, or other Philippine solar installers?
They sell solar panels. Karnot sells the integrated solution that lets solar actually work for a commercial site: solar plus heat pump plus thermal battery, sized to your real load profile and configured behind the meter. We do not install net-metering systems capped at 20% offset. We engineer Zero Export installations sized to whatever your roof and load can carry. The result is typically 60–80% bill reduction instead of the 4–20% that solar-only installs deliver on a 24/7 commercial load.
See Where Your Boiler Energy Really Goes
Book a free site survey or try our Boiler Energy Flow Analyser to model your plant and calculate the exact savings.