Whether you’re building a new home or upgrading your current home, choosing the right heating and cooling system is essential. While many people are familiar with central HVAC systems, heat pumps are less well known. However, they offer extensive benefits and should be considered for your home’s heating and cooling needs.
What Is a Heat Pump?
This type of system circulates both heated and cooled air throughout a home just as a central HVAC system does. However, it functions differently. When the temperature in Birmingham plummets, your heat pump will extract heat from outdoors and bring it inside your home. During Birmingham’s warm, humid months, it draws heat out of the home and deposits it outdoors. These are electrical units and do not run on fossil fuels.
How Does a Heat Pump Work?
These systems function by extracting heat and moving that heat either indoors or outdoors based on your needs. The two primary types of systems are air source and geothermal. Air source pumps move heat from the indoor air to the outdoor air and vice versa. Geothermal pumps move heated indoor air to the ground in your yard and vice versa.
It’s important to understand that heat pumps move heat rather than generate it. This is different from a furnace, which creates heat from fossil fuels. For home cooling, the pump system functions in a similar manner as an air conditioner. An indoor air handler, or fan coil, relies on refrigerant to transfer heat to or from the outdoor compressor. This heat transfer is possible because of pressure. Hot air naturally moves to areas with lower temperatures. A heat pumping system take advantage of this property to naturally transfer heat.
Some of the other main components are electronic and thermostat expansion valves, variable speed blowers and inverters. The expansion valves are responsible for moderating the amount of refrigerant delivered to the coils, which allows for precision temperature control. Variable speed blowers adjust airflow to compensate for dirty coils, filters and ducts. Inverters have higher and lower speed settings to optimize indoor comfort and energy efficiency.
What Are the Different Types of Heat Pumps?
In addition to air source and geothermal systems, there are other types to consider. For example, a dual fuel system uses a furnace as a backup heat source. Generally, a pump system is better suited for mild climates. This is because heat pumps function less effectively in severely cold and hot temperatures.
You will fund both ductless or ducted systems. A ductless system is ideal for smaller spaces while a ducted system is recommended for heating and cooling larger homes. Short-run ducted systems are available to disperse heat and cooling to other areas in a smaller or medium-sized house.
When exploring the different types of systems available, you will find that split systems and packaged systems are available. A split system uses an indoor unit featuring a coil and a fan, and it also has a similar setup outdoors. Ducts connect these two components. A packaged system, on the other hand, has a single unit. Its ducts carry air throughout the home.
Options are also available in single-zone and multi-zone systems. A single-zone pump system uses one thermostat, one condenser and one indoor unit. A multi-zone system uses multiple thermostats, one outdoor condenser and multiple indoor units
Does It Save Money?
This type of system can save you money on heating and cooling bills throughout the year. Actual savings depends on electricity costs versus the cost of fossil fuels that you would be responsible for with a furnace system. These pump systems are highly energy efficient due to their functionality. They do not create heat. Instead, they transfer heat indoors and outdoors.
Schedule Installation Service in Birmingham Today
Birmingham One Hour is your trusted source for quality heating and cooling services. From installation to maintenance and repair services, our licensed and experienced team can do it all. When you schedule heating and cooling services with us, you can count on us to arrive on time and do great work. We’re on time or you don’t pay a dime
