
Every year, heat pumps seem to be a hot topic for homeowners looking to invest in a new HVAC system for their homes. These units are highly energy-efficient and can even make you eligible to receive a tax incentive from the federal government. If this is your first time learning about a heat pump, it’s important to understand how the entire system operates.
What Does a Heat Pump Do?
Simply defined, a heat pump transfers heat from one location to another. In the wintertime, it will transfer heat to the inside of your home. In the summertime, it will transfer heat from inside your home to the outdoors. A heat pump is effective at adequately heating and cooling your home to your desired temperature.
How Does a Heat Pump Work?
When people learn that a heat pump can heat and cool their home, their next question is almost always how does it do so. At the basis of every heat pump is a substance known as refrigerant. Simply put, refrigerant will absorb heat. For example, let’s say that it’s summertime and you have your heat pump running.
At the indoor air handler unit, your blower will force air over your system’s evaporator coil. Inside this evaporator coil is refrigerant. As hot air passes over the coil, heat transfers into the refrigerant and excess humidity is removed from the air. Your system’s compressor is responsible for transporting the refrigerant from the indoor air handler unit to the outdoor condenser unit.
There’s another coil in the outdoor condenser unit known as the condenser coil. Refrigerant at this coil will effectively release its heat to be dispersed to the air outside. The compressor will then bring the refrigerant back into the indoor air handler unit to do the same job over and over again until your home reaches your desired temperature setting.
In the wintertime, your heat pump’s refrigerant will essentially flow in the reverse direction. This will allow it to absorb heat from the air outside and transport it into your home. While there are ground-source heat pumps that remove heat from the soil instead of the air, we’re going to solely focus on air-source heat pumps as they’re the most prominently used for homeowners.
A Little More Detail on Refrigerant
While it’s very helpful to simplify refrigerant by stating that it absorbs and releases heat, there’s a lot more to the story on how it effectively works. The key to its effectiveness is pressure. When refrigerant is at a low pressure, it can easily absorb heat as it evaporates from liquid to gas form. At a high pressure, the gas refrigerant is known to be at a higher energy level than the air found outside.
This allows it to effectively pass heat to the surrounding outdoor air at the condenser unit. When it releases this heat, refrigerant condenses back to a liquid form as it cools off. By being able to control the pressure of the refrigerant thanks to your heat pump’s compressor system, you can effectively use refrigerant to transport heat.
It’s important to note that once refrigerant releases heat outdoors, the liquid refrigerant will pass through an expansion valve as it comes back inside. This will help to relieve pressure from the refrigerant so that it can go back to a liquid state where it absorbs heat readily. Your heat pump will have a reversible expansion valve so that it can alter the refrigerant’s pressure in both directions depending on whether you’re heating or cooling your home.
Ducted vs. Ductless Systems
Heat pumps are a very versatile HVAC system that can be used with existing ductwork or without ductwork. If you already have existing ductwork in your home for your old heating or air conditioning system, then you can simply have your heat pump hooked up to that ductwork. If you don’t have ductwork in your home, it can be very expensive to have it added.
Typically, it’s more cost-effective to invest in a ductless mini-split system. This type of system uses an outdoor condenser unit alongside various indoor air handler units known as mini-splits. Each indoor unit connects to the outdoor condenser unit with copper tubing that helps to transport the refrigerant back and forth. Each mini-split unit will pull in air, treat it, and disperse it throughout the room.
Energy-Efficient Operation
Heat pumps are well-known to be extremely energy-efficient systems. As a homeowner, this can be highly desirable to not only reduce your carbon footprint but also keep your energy bills in check throughout the year. When compared to other types of heating and cooling systems on the market today, heat pumps are by far the most energy-efficient.
Unlike other types of heating systems, a heat pump does not use the combustion process to create heat. For this reason, it uses much less energy to simply transport heat from outdoors to inside. Heat pumps have been shown to have an efficiency levelup to 400%. This is four times more than you’ll get out of a traditional electric furnace.
When a heat pump is used with a ductless mini-split setup, it can even be more efficient. With the EPA suggesting that homeowners using ductwork for their HVAC system lose up to 30% of their treated air through leaks, it’s pretty easy to see why a mini-split system can be more efficient.
Furthermore, a ductless mini-split system can allow you to have more control over the individual temperature in each room of your home. This can allow you to minimize energy usage in rooms that you don’t use that often, while still staying comfortable in the rooms that you do.
Tax Incentives
Because heat pumps are so energy-efficient, the government is rewarding homeowners who invest in them. When it comes to the federal government, you can receive up to a $3,200 tax rebate on the purchase of your new heat pump system. Some state and local governments are even offering similar tax rebates to help encourage homeowners to invest in more energy-efficient appliances for their homes. This is good news for you as a homeowner as you can take advantage of getting money back from your initial upfront investment.
Exceptional Safety
One of the bigger concerns that most homeowners have about using a fuel-burning heating system, like a natural gas furnace, is the byproducts of the combustion process. Harmful exhaust fumes like carbon monoxide can back up inside your home in instances where your system is not functioning as it’s supposed to. This can be very dangerous to your family and your home. The beauty of a heat pump is that it doesn’t rely on combustion. Therefore, it doesn’t produce any toxic exhaust fumes that could potentially harm your family. This added safety can help to provide peace of mind.
Expert Heat Pump Service
Black-Haak offers expert heat pump service for the whole Fox Valley, WI community. Our technicians can help with all your heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical, home protection service plans, smart home automation, ductless mini-split, indoor air quality, geothermal, and commercial service needs. Simply call us today to schedule a service appointment with one of our experienced HVAC technicians.
