Modern heat pumps are an excellent, energy efficient heating and cooling system for most American homes. A heat pump is an HVAC system that handles both the heating and cooling of your home. Despite a slow start when they were first introduced, heat pumps are now considered to be one of the most cost effective, energy efficient heating and cooling alternatives.
Heat pumps are very efficient heating systems because they use electricity to move heat rather than creating it. Since they don’t create heat, they are much more efficient than most other heating alternatives such as furnaces that burn fossil fuels or use electric heating elements to create heat.
Most homes with a traditional furnace and central air conditioning system can be easily retrofitted with a split system heat pump. These look a lot like a traditional central air conditioner and operate like a traditional central air conditioner in the summer when they are in cooling mode. They absorb warmth inside the home and discharge it outside the home.
When switched to heating mode in the winter, the heat pump operates in reverse to absorb warmth outside the home and discharge it inside the home.
The first heat pumps that were mass produced in the 1970’s were poorly designed and installed in homes with inadequate weatherstripping and insulation. The result was that heat pumps initially earned a reputation for needing frequent repairs and for poor heating performance, especially in colder climates.
Today, heat pump technology has improved to the point that the opposite is true. Modern heat pumps have excellent reliability and do a great job of heating in all types of climates, even those with prolonged periods of below freezing temperatures. They are very efficient in both heating and cooling modes and can save homeowners a bundle on energy costs.
