What is a heat pump?
While a furnace generates heat and an air conditioner generates cool air, a heat pump cools or heats the home by moving air around from existing sources. In the summer, the heat pump removes warm or hot air from inside by pumping it outside. In the winter, it moves air from warm places in the home, under the ground, or from the outside, and circulates it around the house. Heat pumps can often reduce humidity in the air on par with or much better than traditional air conditioners. In the Pacific Northwest, high efficiency heat pump systems can often dramatically reduce energy costs. Morgan Mechanical offers a variety of heat pump solutions, including Ductless Heat Pumps (also known as Ductless Mini Split Systems) and Geothermal Heat Pumps that exchange warm and cool air with nearby ground or water sources.
Types of heat pumps
There are two types of heat pumps on the market, a traditional heat pump that uses your home’s existing ductwork to blow hot or cold air into your home and a ductless split heat pump. So, what are the differences?
A traditional heat pump is an easy replacement for a gas or electric furnace and will use your home’s existing ducts to blow heated or cooled air into your home just as it always has. The traditional heat pump has two units, a blower that replaces the furnace plus an outside unit that looks like (and is) an air conditioner. A heat pump operates just like an air conditioner, with one small exception; it can reverse itself and produce heat.
The heat pump works like a standard air conditioner in the summer. It takes cold air outside, condenses it, and blows it inside. This works even when it is scorching outside.
In the winter, the process is reversed, cold air is pumped out of the house, and warm air is pumped in. This works even when it is frigid outside. The process might seem like magic, but it is a proven technology that works very well and is much more energy-efficient than a standard furnace.
Ductless Heat Pump
A ductless heat pump is best for additions, new construction, or apartments. There are two significant advantages to a ductless system- you do not have to install new ducts, which are often pricy, and it is even more efficient than a standard heat pump.
Heat and cooling are lost as it travels through the ductwork before entering the house. Ducts are often run through attics that are not insulated so that hot air has to travel through a cold metal duct before you get it. That is why you often feel the cold air blowing in as soon as your furnace is on until the hot air from the furnace blows at you.
A ductless heat pump has no ductwork, and therefore it has no energy loss before reaching your hands. Ductless heat pumps are the most energy-efficient way to heat and cool your house.