When you’re in the market for a new HVAC system, giving heat pumps special consideration could increase your satisfaction with your system replacement. In our climate, a heat pump offers solid energy efficiency and comfort because there’s almost always enough heat in the air for the system to heat your home.
How a Heat Pump Works
A heat pump essentially transfers heat from one place to another. In the summer, the liquid refrigerant circulating through the evaporator coil inside the air handler collects the heat from your air, and in the winter, the process reverses. The pump uses the heat in the outdoor air to turn the liquid refrigerant into a gas that circulates through the evaporator coil to heat your home. It accomplishes the heating and cooling process by using a reversing valve that switches the flow of refrigerant.
In the heating mode, the refrigerant collects the heat, and the compressor inside the condenser changes it from a liquid to a gas. This conversion brings hot refrigerant into your home and the fan inside the air handler blows over it, warming your home safely.
Unlike combustion furnaces, all the heat a pump provides is harvested from the air. This process works efficiently until temperatures drop into the low 30s. At this point, some heat pumps can’t harvest enough heat and a supplemental heating coil inside the air handler turns on to make up the difference. This coil uses more electricity than the heat pump by a factor of approximately three.
Heat Pump Efficiency
Heating efficiency in a heat pump is expressed as its heating season performance factor, or HSPF, and cooling efficiency by its seasonal energy efficiency ratio, or SEER. The minimums stand at 7.7 and 13, respectively. Choosing a system with higher ratings reduces energy consumption. In our climate, a heat pump with a scroll compressor may eliminate the supplemental coil from running, since such a compressor can increase heat output from 10 to 15 degrees.
For more expert advice about heat pumps in the McKinney, Allen or Frisco areas, contact Bill Joplin’s Air Conditioning & Heating today.
