Heat Pumps

Heating your home is really a critical component unless you live in the tropics and luckily there are quite a few options available on the market today so that you have a few more choices than what used to be available even a few years ago.

And when it comes to heating your home, there are a lot of things that need to be considered before you make a final decision. Certainly relying on fossil fuel dependent systems has been one of the most popular choices over the last few decades. Using a wood stove is also very popular, but more and more people are finding that they are becoming allergic to wood smoke and it is becoming a bigger concern and not a viable option for many people.

Heat pumps are becoming more and more popular as more people find out exactly how they work and how much more efficient they are in compared to the more traditional home heating systems.

Heat pumps operate differently from traditional systems and they also last a lot longer. They don’t use fossil fuels, such as gas or oil and they don’t require very much electricity. So you can say goodbye to a large monthly heating bill if you do go with this option. There are a couple of different types of heat pumps depending on what will work for your own situation and requirements.

Heat pumps can use a vacuum system to move air from one location to another. It can use cool air from outside and bring it in, or it can do the reverse, taking warm air from the outside and bringing it inside. So this type of system can be used for cooling and heating purposes which makes it a very efficient option.

Heat pumps transfer heat by moving a refrigerant substance by a process of evaporation and condensation. It uses a compressor pump to move this substance between two heat exchanger coils. In one coil, an evaporation process is used at low pressure to heat the refrigerant substance. This is then compressed on its way to the second coil where it then condenses at a high pressure. In this stage, the heat is released to warm the air.

If you are looking for an example of a heat pump system that uses only the cooling mode, then a refrigerator or air conditioner would be examples. A refrigerator is really just a box that has been insulated that has a heat pump system connected to it. The evaporator coil is usually located inside the freezer space. Heat is absorbed from the freezer and moved outside, usually behind or underneath the unit where the condenser coil is located. An air conditioner works on the same premise, by transferring the heat from inside a house to the outdoors.

As far as a geothermal heat pump systems go, they utilize the heat that is generated down in the earth. This heat is captured through a series of underground pipes, which capture and store the heat and then transfer it inside the home. It can also be used to capture colder air and therefore serve a dual purpose. This system although quite costly to install initially, can earn back that cost over time in a much reduced monthly energy bill.
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