How does a typical residential electric heat pump work?
An electric heat pump is a mechanical system that has the ability to gather heat and move it from one location to another. In the summer when heat needs to be removed from a structure, the electric heat pump compressor circulates a refrigerant which absorbs heat from air inside the structure and releases it outside. The summer operation of an electric heat pump is similar to that of a standard air conditioner. For winter operation, the flow of refrigerant is reversed, allowing an electric heat pump to gather heat from the outside atmosphere and move this heat inside the space to be heated.
