How Do Heat Pumps Work And What Are The Benefits? (Video)
While there are a number of options to heat and cool your home, one of the most convenient and energy-efficient is the heat pump.
What is a Heat Pump?
A heat pump is a type of HVAC equipment that can be ductless, such as a mini split, or it can be ducted into your home like central air.
A heat pump provides cooling and heating, similarly to an air conditioner it’s able to go through a cycle that uses refrigerant to cool your home. The difference with the heat pump is it can actually reverse that refrigerant cycle and use refrigerant to also heat your home.
The differences between a heat pump and your traditional heating sources, like boilers and furnaces are heat pumps are entirely electric, while most furnaces and boilers use some sort of a fuel source, whether that be oil, propane or natural gas.
What Heat Pump Options Are Available?
There are two common setups for heat pumps. Some homeowners have a heat pump as the only heat source for their entire home. Other homeowners do what’s known as dual fuel or a hybrid system, where they have a heat pump, as well as a furnace or a boiler. The heat pump operates as their primary heating source, and the furnace or boiler is their backup heat.
What Are The Benefits of a Heat Pump?
Heat pumps are a good fit for anyone who’s looking to get away from using fuel to heat their home.
Heat pumps run off of electricity, while most furnace and boilers run off of fuel like oil, propane and natural gas. A lot of homeowners want to get away from using those fuel sources and get over to electricity for environmental and pricing reasons.
Oil and propane tend to be more expensive, and moving over to electric can save a lot of money. Natural gas doesn’t really provide as many of the savings, but if you’re looking to get off of that and move over to electricity, it can be beneficial as well.
When is the Best Time to Install a Heat Pump?
The best time to buy a heat pump is when your HVAC system is getting old or out of warranty, and you feel like it’s not running at its peak efficiency or repairs are right around the corner.
The best time to buy a heat pump is also sooner rather than later. Every year, the cost of equipment rises, the cost of materials rise, which causes the cost of installation to rise. So purchasing this year is always going to be cheaper than waiting for years in the future.
Also, if you’re moving away from using a fuel source to a heat pump, purchasing it sooner will save on the cost of heating your home because electricity is going to be less expensive than oil or propane.
So why spend more months purchasing oil, purchasing propane, when you can transition over to something that’s going to be better for your pockets?
What Are The Next Steps to Installing a Heat Pump in Your Home?
Here at Mattioni we offer free consultations with an HVAC professional who can help you decide whether a heat pump is right for you in your home, and what the cost of installation would be in your unique situation.
If you have any other questions about heat pumps, you can call us at the number above, schedule an appointment online or visit our online learning center to find more information about your home.
