Heat Pumps

Heat pumps have been gaining in popularity recently in Washington state.  The reason?  Customers are finding that they not only get heating in winter and cooling in summer, but they also have reduced utility bills, more even temperatures in their home, and are helping the environment too.  Heat pumps can be up to 50% more efficient than other forced air heating systems, which makes them the top choice for consumers who are looking to save money on their bills and avoid using up natural resources like gas or propane.  Not to mention that a heat pump adds resale value to your home when you are ready to sell.

There are several different kinds of heat pumps, but the most common is an air source Heat Pump.  What this means is that the unit is utilizing the heat within the air and converting that energy to be able to heat or cool your home.  As odd as it may sound, the coil inside the heat pump allows you to use the 40° weather to produce heat for your home, and the 90° weather to produce air conditioning to cool your home.

Typical heat pump systems include two “boxes”—the heat pump that sits outside your home, and the air handler that generally is inside the home or in the garage, attic, or crawl space.  The heat pump itself is what converts the heat in the air to the usable heating or cooling and is connected to the air handler by refrigerant piping.  The refrigerant piping transfers the heated or cooled refrigerant to the air handler, where it goes into the indoor coil.  Air flows over the coil and into your home through your duct system, bringing you an even and comfortable temperature all year long.

And just like there are hybrid cars, there are also hybrid heat pump systems.  Instead of having an air handler for the indoor unit, a gas furnace is used.  The indoor unit works as the backup for the heat pump.  When the temperature gets too low outside, the heat pump can’t work as efficiently, so the gas furnace essentially takes over and helps heat the home, thus making it a hybrid system.