If you are looking for a way to heat and cool down your home, you may think that your only option is to get a central air conditioner and a furnace. However, a heat pump can also perform both functions, even though the name implies otherwise. Here is what you need to know to help decide if you should get a ductless heat pump instead of a furnace and air conditioner combo.
Heat Pumps Provide Heating And Cooling
When you install a central air conditioner, know that it is only going to lower the temperature of your home in the summer because that is the appliance's only function. However, a heat pump is able to provide both hot and cool air. This is because a heat pump basically transfers heat around to make your home feel hotter or cooler.
For example, in the summertime, it is going to extract the heat from the air inside your home and move it to the outside, which makes the air feel cooler as a result. In the winter, it takes the heat from outside the home and moves it inside to make your home feel hotter. Even though their air outside is cool, there is still heat the can be transferred to the inside of your home.
Heat Pumps Can Provide Cost Savings
A heat pump is going to run off of electricity and be an alternative to a natural gas furnace during the winter. This is often the case because electricity rates drop in the wintertime due to more homes using natural gas for their heating instead of electricity. Having a heat pump gives you the ability to take advantage of those reduced rates in the winter. This would not have been possible if you used a forced air conditioning system with a furnace, which typically runs off natural gas.
Heat Pumps Provide Fluctuating Temperature
You may be used to how a furnace and air conditioner work where the temperature of the air that comes out from the vent is a pretty consistent temperature. This is not the case with a heat pump, which can provide air that fluctuates in temperature based on the current climate. It is definitely something to be aware of because it means that you need to live in an area that has a temperate climate. If you are frequently seeing summers over 100°F or winters that are at sub-zero temperatures, the heat pump may not work as well as you hope. But if you fall somewhere in the middle, it could really work for your home as intended.
To learn more about ductless heat pump installation, contact an HVAC contractor in your area.
Share10 December 2020
Every summer, I agonized over energy bills that would shoot into the stratosphere as a result of my efforts to keep cool in the heat. Every time I turned the temperature down, my bills increased. This summer, I decided to take some of the control over my energy bill back. I installed reflective film on my windows that reduced the amount of light and heat coming into the house. I started serving more cold meals or asking my husband to barbecue outside, so that my air conditioner didn't have to compete with the hot stove, and I started doing laundry at night to reduce appliance heat in the house at peak times. I also had ceiling fans installed. So far, the difference in my bill has been tremendous. This blog is a way for me to explore other ways to reduce energy drain during the summer months.