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What is a Heat Pump?

What Is a Heat Pump?

Georgia homeowners, heat pumps make an efficient choice for home heating and cooling. Understand the answer to the question, "What is a heat pump?" and you'll understand why these nifty systems hold the key to home energy efficiency.

If you know anything about how refrigerators work, it's easy to understand how heat pumps work. Heat pumps and refrigerators operate on the same principles. Heat pumps can also use the compression cycle to heat, as well.

Essentially, a heat pump transfers heat from one place to another to provider either heating or cooling. When it's in cooling mode, the pump transfers heat out of your home to make it feel cooler. In the heating mode, it transfers heat into your home, making the air feel warmer. Through a closed-circuit system, the heat pump uses refrigerant to transfer the heat. The refrigerant changes states from liquid to gas and back to a liquid as the temperature and pressure change.

Benefits Offered by Heat Pumps

Heat pumps offer considerable advantages for Atlanta homeowners:

  • Energy efficiency: One of the reasons that heat pumps are so efficient is their ability to transfer heat instead of generate it from scratch as a standard air conditioner does. According to the Department of Energy, homeowners who currently use electricity for heating can save up to 40 percent of the amount they spend on heating and cooling by installing an air-source heat pump.
  • Humidity control: Heat pumps deal with Atlanta's famously humid climate better than standard air conditioners do. That's because the air handler naturally runs at a lower speed for a longer time than other systems, and long cooling cycles are the key to reducing humidity.
  • Comfort: With the lower stages of cooling, heat pumps offer superior comfort over standard A/Cs. Most air conditioners and furnaces cycle on at full force and then shut down to stop sending cool air to the home. As a result, it's common to experience cold zones while the system's running and hot zones when it shuts off. With a heat pump, you'll get a continuous stream of cooled air coming into the home and boosting comfort.
  • Easy installation: If you currently heat your home with electricity or gas and cool it with an air conditioner, the HVAC installer won't have to make many changes to retrofit the air-source heat pump. The unit will take up about as much space as your air conditioner and furnace do because it is made up of the same two components: the indoor air handler and the outdoor condenser.
  • Dual system flexibility: If your home's existing HVAC system needs to be replaced, it can be costly to invest in both a furnace and an air conditioner. By upgrading to a heat pump, you'll get a two-in-one system that heats and cools at a reduced cost.

For answers to questions such as "What is a heat pump?" or "How can I cool my home more efficiently?" contact Reliable Heating & Air. We serve metro Atlanta and the surrounding areas with heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical services.