Heating pumps are an emerging source of energy-efficient home heating. Here is what you should know as a homeowner about starting a heating pump system in your home.
Heating Pumps Are an Energy Efficient Heating Source
The main benefit of heating pumps is that they can help you conserve energy while being a reliable source of heat. They work by pushing hot and cold air from one space to another to heat or cool the space. Heating pumps can draw heat even from air that seems too cold to be a heating source, and they can also push colder air out of the house, meaning that they can function in cold temperatures as well.
Heating Pumps Can Be a Supplemental or Primary Heating Source
There are many different ways to adopt heating pumps for your home. If you already have a furnace installed, then you might want to use heating pumps as a supplemental heating option. But a full geothermal heating pump installation can also function as your primary heating source. Of course, the level of infrastructure that you decide on will affect the cost, so it's up to you whether you want to leverage your existing heating sources or go completely green.
There Are Several Types with Different Costs
The two main kinds of heating pumps for home are geothermal and air-source heating pumps. Air-source heating pumps are above ground and they use differing air temperatures to move heat from place to place. A geothermal heating pump actually uses underground heat reserves as a source for heating air. Geothermal heat sources are more powerful, but also more expensive; your heating contractor will need to bore into the ground in order to place the piping for your geothermal heat pump, so it can come with a more costly setup (offset by greater energy savings later on).
Your Climate May Dictate Your Options
Finally, note that your climate will tell you which options for heating are viable. If you live in a moderate climate, all heating pump options are probably useful. If you live in a more severe cold weather climate, geothermal heat pumps or aurora pumps coupled with a furnace are probably the best choice. This is because underground heating reserves may be necessary to sufficiently heat a home in very cold conditions, and a regular heating pump (without underground support) might not draw enough heat from the environment on its own.
For more information contact a company like Actionaire Inc.
