What are heat pump systems?
Heat pumps are central air conditioners that can operate in reverse to be central heaters too. These systems are extremely popular even preferred in moderate climate regions like southern states that usually have milder winters.
Why use a heat pump system?
Heat pumps deliver cool air during the hot summer months, and warm air during the cool winter months, all from one central system. The most popular configuration is an air-source heat pump, which uses the outdoor air to exchange energy for cooling or heating your house. Heat pumps offer an energy-efficient alternative to conventional heating and cooling systems.
How do heat pumps work?
Much like refrigerators, heat pumps use mechanical energy to transfer heat from a cool area to a warmer area, making the cooler area colder and the warmer area hotter. You may think heat pumps just generate heat, but they move heat which provides equivalent space conditioning, that’s cost-effective for about one-quarter of the cost of operating other types of HVAC units. While heat pumps help transfer heat into your building from the cool outdoors, and into your warm house during colder seasons, they also move heat from your cold building to the warm outdoors. Heat pumps are designed to move thermal energy opposite to the direction of spontaneous heat flow by absorbing heat from a cold space and releasing it to a warmer one.
Even when you don’t think heat pumps are necessary, they’re being used. When the temperatures outside are cold, a heat pump extracts outside heat and move it inside and while it’s hot outside, it reverses directions and acts as an air conditioner by removing heat from the building.