Auxiliary heat source, air conditioning system with auxiliary heat source, and method therefor

A method of operating an air conditioning system including a first pump and a first intermediate heat exchanger connected in series, the first pump having an outflow port and an inflow port;

• a second pump and a second heat intermediate exchanger connected in series, the second pump having an outflow port and an inflow port;
• a flow path switching mechanism including at least four pairs of first and second valves, the first valves are configured to select the outflow port of one of the first and second pumps, and the second valves are configured to select the inflow port of the other of the first and second pumps;
• a third intermediate heat exchanger operating as an auxiliary heat exchanger, the third intermediate heat exchanger having an inflow port and an outflow port detachably connected to a first pair of the pairs of first and second valves;
• a pipe detachably connected to and communicating the inflow port and the outflow port of a second pair of the pairs of the first and second valves;
• and an indoor heat exchanger having an outflow port and an inflow port connected to a third pair of the pairs of first and second valves, the method comprising:
• connecting the first intermediate heat exchanger and the second intermediate heat exchanger to a refrigerant circuit;
• simultaneously providing a heating operation and a cooling operation using the first intermediate heat exchanger, the first heat pump, the second intermediate heat exchanger, and the second heat pump for heating and cooling;
• and
• providing a heating operation using the first heat pump to circulate water in the refrigerant circuit to the indoor heat exchanger and the second heat pump to circulate the water to the auxiliary heat exchanger.