A heat pump is an efficient solution for your home’s year-round comfort needs. In addition to being able to provide both heating and air conditioning for your home, it also provides dehumidification. In order to get the best performance, your heat pump needs to be correctly sized for your home.

Air conditioning

In the summer, heat pumps work in the same manner as standard air conditioners. They use a refrigerant system to transfer heat from your home to the exterior. Heat is first transferred to cold refrigerant from air moving across the evaporator coil. The now warmer refrigerant then passes through the compressor which further increases its temperature. It then passes through the condenser coil where it sheds the gained heat into the exterior air so that it can begin the cycle again.

Heating

What makes heat pumps unique is their ability to switch their operation in the winter and pump heat from the exterior air into the home. Moving heat around instead of producing it allows for heating efficiencies far exceeding those of even high efficiency furnaces.

Dehumidification

Air conditioners and heat pumps both remove humidity as a result of the cooling process. The cooling process removes humidity due to the copious amount of moisture that condenses and drains away from the evaporator coil. Heat pumps are unique in that they can operate in a humidity removal mode that keeps the home at a stable temperature by alternating between heating and cooling modes. However, the humidity removal is only accomplished during the cooling portion so this is inefficient.

A heat pump that’s too large will only run for a brief amount of time before it sufficiently cools your home, so less moisture will be condensed and removed from the air during normal operation. The short run times are also less efficient in terms of energy use and may lead to increased wear on some components.

If you’re thinking about a heat pump for your home or any other HVAC upgrades, contact Stack Heating & Cooling. We’ve specialized in meeting home comfort needs in the Greater Cleveland area since 1976.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about heat pumps and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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