Perhaps much to many people’s disbelief, the final days of Summer are fast approaching. As the seasons change, homeowners must think about getting ready to transition to the next. Colder days are ahead, which means it’s time to start thinking about the heating source for your home. If it is time for a heating system upgrade in your home, it’s important to remember that you have many different options when it comes to home heating systems. One in particular is a heat pump.
A heat pump is a heating and cooling system that, rather than burning fuel to create heat, transfers heat from one area to another. By its nature, heat tends to flow from an area of higher temperature into an area of lower temperature. A heat pump turns that process around and pulls heat from lower temperature sources, like the ground or air outside your home, and pumps it into your home.
There are a few different kinds of popular heat pump systems. The first, as described briefly above, is an air-to-air heat pump. This system pulls heat from the air outside your home and uses ducts within the home to blow hot air into different areas of the home. A system of cools heats the air before it makes its way through the duct system.
In a ground-source heat pump, the heat is pulled from an underground source—either from the ground itself or from an underground body of water. In this system, water (or a refrigerant) runs through either an open or closed-loop system to change its temperature, then heat is extracted from the water and used to heat your home. For an extra boost of efficiency, there are also absorption heat pumps, which use natural gas, solar power or even sometimes geo-thermal energy to heat rather than electricity.
But, what about homes without duct systems? Ductless mini-split heat pumps are a great alternative to the types of heat pumps outlined above. These efficient units connect an outdoor air source to multiple indoor units. Each of these mini heating and cooling units are used to regulate the temperature in one specific room or area of the home. Many people use these types of systems to retrofit a modern heating and cooling solution onto an older home. The location of the individual units in a mini-split heat pump system are flexible, making them a great option for these types of unique homes.
There are many pros and cons to operating using a heat pump vs. a more traditional HVAC heating and cooling unit. Stay tuned on the blog, as we’ll be talking about some of the specific benefits of heat pumps.
