What You Need to Know About Heating with a Heat Pump

In essence heat pumps act as reversible air conditioners, and understanding them begins with the system they share with air conditioners. The cycles stars when refrigerant gas enters a compressor, which subjects it to a great deal of pressure, which raises the temperature. Once pressurized, the gas then moves to a set of condenser coils, which dissipate the heat into the outdoor air, and the refrigerant enters its liquid state. The liquid refrigerant (still under pressure) travels to an expansion valve, which releases a set amount into a set of evaporator coils. As it evaporates, it cools the surrounding air, which can then be blown into your home to lower the temperature.

Heat pumps use two coils – one outside the home and one inside – which can each serve both condenser and evaporator duties. In the summer, the inside coil acts as an evaporator (cooling the air to be blown throughout the house), while the outside coil dissapates heat into the external air. In the winter, that process is reversed, with the outside coil absorbing the heat from the air and the indoor coil dissipating the heat into your home.

Heat pumps tend to work best in areas where the temperature doesn’t drop below freezing often, like Atlanta and elsewhere. For those cold nights where temperatures get chilly, most heat pumps have backup electric resistance coils that kick on when the heat transfer process becomes inefficient. Even then, the heat pump saves a great deal of money over traditional furnaces. For more on what you need to know about heating with a heat pump, or for general questions about heating, Atlanta residents can turn to Premier Indoor Comfort Systems. Call us today to discuss heat pump installation or repair.