What Is a Heat Pump?
Heat pumps are a wonderful, efficient, and environmentally friendly option for heating and cooling your home. A heat pump is a piece of equipment that transfers heat from one area to another through the use of refrigerant lines and a compressor. The system looks like an air conditioner, but you can both heat and cool your home with a single heat pump unit. In the summer, when you want to cool your home, the heat pump absorbs the heat from the inside and moves it outside. In the winter, it absorbs heat from the outdoors and moves it into your home.
There are ground source and air source heat pumps. A ground source heat pump moves heat between your home and the ground, whereas an air source heat pump moves heat from your home to the outside air.
How Does a Heat Pump Work?
Heat pumps do not generate heat. They simply transfer it from one place to another. In the winter, an air source heat pump absorbs the heat energy from outside and transfers it into your home. In the summer, the process is reversed in that warm air is absorbed from inside your home and transferred outside. The concept is the same with a ground source heat pump, except the heat is transferred to and from pipes that run underground.
To move heat around, a heat pump has an outdoor unit that includes a fan and a compressor and an indoor unit that includes a coil and an indoor fan. During the summer, the refrigerant is pumped through the indoor coils and an expansion device that works as an evaporator. The indoor fan blows air over the coils. As the air is blown over the coils, the refrigerant absorbs the heat energy from the air.
As the refrigerant absorbs heat, it turns into a gas. The result is cooler air, which is distributed throughout the home via ductwork. The gaseous refrigerant circulates to the outdoor unit, where it is compressed back into a liquid. This process releases heat into the surroundings, and an outdoor fan blows the heated air away. The refrigerant cycles back to the indoor coils, and the process starts again.
The process is the exact same when in heating mode, except reversed. The outdoor coils absorb heat from outside or underground, depending on the type, and move it indoors.
While these systems do not require as much maintenance as traditional HVAC systems, they will require professional services from time to time.
Need Service for Your Heat Pump in Vancouver? Rely on Kits Plumbing & Heating
When you need service for your heat pump system in Vancouver, you should choose a company that is experienced and puts customer service at the forefront. At Kits Plumbing & Heating, we have extensive experience supplying, installing, and servicing heat pumps. We’ve been in business for more than 13 years, and we put building lasting relationships with our customers at the top of the priority list. We attribute our success to providing the highest quality of service.
