What is a heat pump?
Ans. A heat pump is an air conditioning system that has a reverse on its compressor. Instead of pumping the hot gas through the condenser coil in the outdoor unit, it sends it to the evaporator coil in your house and a fan blows the heat out through your ducts. Heat pumps are a quiet, safe, and clean method of heating as well as cooling your home.
A Heat Pump is a reverse cycle Air Conditioner. It uses heat in the outdoor air to evaporate refrigerant, or freon, to be used later to blow off heat. In a nut shell anyway. I know, youre thinking, How can it get heat out of the air, its 25 degrees outside?! Well there is heat present in the air down to a temperature known as Absolute Zero. A temperature that cant be reached on the surface of the earth, but in the vacuum of outer space. The unit may work less efficiently, and run for longer periods before turning off. But it is still heating. It also has electric resistance heaters for backup, you may notice a blue or green light on the thermostat that comes on occasionally to let you know that the unit is getting help from the resistance heaters.
We’re asked this question a lot. In the Southern United States, air source heat pumps are the dominant source of home heating and cooling in a single system. However, in colder climates, they are not as well known. The technology in an air source heat pump is similar to what you would find in your kitchen refrigerator. Using a simple refrigeration cycle, refrigerators remove heat from your food and drinks and reject it into the kitchen. This is why the coils on the back of your refrigerator will feel warm. This process of moving heat is achieved by taking advantage of the energy stored and released when a refrigerant changes from a liquid to a gas. Simply put, a heat pump can move heat into or out of your home. In the summer time, it acts just like a standard air conditioner and moves heat from inside your home to the outdoors. It does exactly the opposite in the winter; it captures heat from the outdoors and moves it into your home, keeping you and your family warm. How does it get he
The heat pump is an air conditioner that reverses the process of removing heat from the inside of the house in summer to absorbing the heat from outside air and moving it inside in winter. It is effective by itself down to temperatures around 25 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. At that point either a gas furnace or an air handler with supplemental electric heat will kick in and help heat your home. The Auxiliary Heat light on your thermostat will light. The heat pump will continue to operate during electric auxiliary heat. It will shut off when a gas furnace is energized. Emergency heat is a manual override option in the event your heat pump needs service.
