Modern air-source heat pumps are among the most sophisticated home-comfort equipment available today. They provide excellent climate control, offer outstanding efficiency, and can be used both for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter.
The components
The three primary components of a heat pump include the compressor, the reversing valve and the heat exchangers. The compressor pumps refrigerant in a closed loop through the heat pump. The reversing valve determines whether the heat pump is in heating mode or cooling mode. While it takes all of these parts, and more, working in tune to make heat pump operation efficient, it’s the heat exchangers that help make heat pumps distinctive.
The two heat exchangers are located indoors and outdoors. The refrigerant inside the heat exchangers extracts and transports the heat from one place to another. In heating mode, the refrigerant vapor in the outdoor heat exchanger (evaporator) extracts heat from the air, transports it through the coil to the indoor heat exchanger (condenser), where the heat is released into your home. The refrigerant, now in liquid form, travels back to the outdoor heat exchanger to repeat the process.
In cooling mode, the reversing valve directs the refrigerant in the opposite direction, which switches the heat exchangers’ roles. The indoor unit (evaporator) now extracts heat from your home and transports the heat to the outdoor unit (condenser), where the heat is released, providing cool comfort for your family. In essence, the heat exchangers are two sides of the same coin.
Efficiency and comfort
Because heat pumps don’t generate heat but rather transfer it from one location to another, they’re more efficient than even high-efficiency furnaces, and can generate from one and a half to three times more heat energy than the electricity they consume. In cold-winter climates such as Southwest Ohio, they do have trouble maintaining their efficiency when temperatures fall below freezing for extended periods, though increasingly homeowners are employing a backup gas-heating system for these situations.
For more information on how heat pumps can give your family excellent climate control and energy savings, contact Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heat pump operation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Ace Hardware Home Services services the Ohio’s Miami Valley. Visit our websiteto see our special offers and get started today!
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