One of the great things about owning a home today is the great variety of gadgets, appliances and HVAC equipment available to make your life more comfortable. Of course, choosing how to heat and cool your home is a more difficult decision to make than deciding on the right coffee maker. That's why the Austin, TX heating and air conditioning specialists at Intelligent Air Services are here to ensure that your home is warm all winter long and that you are able to beat the heat during the hottest days of summer. You may not know it yet, but a quality heat pump could be just what you need for efficient year-round comfort!
Why Consider a Heat Pump Over Other Types of HVAC Systems?
A heat pump is a great HVAC option for a few different reasons. First of all, these systems are able to both heat and cool your home, something that a furnace or traditional central air conditioning system simply cannot aspire to. During the summer months, the heat pump works just like an air conditioner, removing heat from the air in your home and then redistributing that heat throughout the building. Once the cooler weather arrives, though, a heat pump in Austin, TX can just as easily work in the opposite fashion, reversing its operation to heat your home back up. The way it does so is the big selling point of heat pump technology.
How Do Heat Pumps Work?
Heat pumps do not generate heat the way a system such as a furnace does. Instead, heat pumps make use of the ambient heat in the air outside to warm your house up. How is this possible? Well, even when it is not that hot out, the air outside retains some heat. By absorbing that heat and utilizing the heat transfer process to bring it into your home, heat pumps are able to use just a small amount of electricity to keep you warm and cozy. Our fairly mild winter weather helps to ensure that a quality heat pump in Austin, TX can handle anything that the heating season can throw at you.
Does heat pump installation sound intriguing to you? Click below to learn more!
The Difference Between an Air Conditioner & a Heat Pump
Air conditioners operate via refrigeration, which involves the use of a chemical blend called refrigerant, a set of coils, a compressor, the expansion valve, and a fan, among other vital parts. The refrigerant absorbs heat from a home inside at the evaporator coil, when it evaporates into a gas. It lets off the heat at the condenser unit outside as it condenses into a liquid. A fan blowing over the indoor coil moves cool air into the room.
A heat pump has an extra component known as a reversing valve that allows the refrigerant to move the opposite direction, absorbing heat from the outside to bring into your home. The indoor coil becomes a condenser while the outside coil is for evaporation. Check valves help redirect the refrigerant so it flows through components the right way and so that it can avoid certain parts, like the expansion valve.
Why Are Heat Pumps Efficient?
Heat pumps do have a balance point at which they struggle to gather enough heat from the outside air to heat a home. That’s why most installers add on strips of electric heating elements (that resemble the inside of a toaster) as a backup heating source, although a furnace may also be used in some cases.
The thermostat is programmed to recognize when the heating strips are needed, but it’s important to note that these require a lot of energy to use and should be in use sparingly. Heat pumps are efficient because they only use electricity to move heat from place to place, but the additional heating strips are inefficient because they actually generate heat.
To learn more about heat pumps in Austin, TX, call (512) 675-6997 today. We have the answers you need to determine if a heat pump is a right option for you. When it comes to heat pumps, you can’t go wrong with Intelligent Air Services.