Heat Pumps are an alternative to heating your home with a fossil fuel (Coal, oil, or propane). They provide heating and cooling by using electricity only. There are several types of heat pumps that can be used. Which of these that works for you will depend on several factors including your existing heating system, the layout of your home and your budget. In any case a heat pump will help reduce CO2 and other pollutants when coupled with a green source of electricity. These are available through your energy supplier, or solar panels, solar farms, or wind.Â
Heat Pumps are devices that use electricity to move heat from one place to another like a refrigerator or air conditioner. Heat is moved from the inside of the refrigerator or room to the outside of the refrigerator or the room.Â
There are three basic types of heat pumps. Air-to-air heat pumps take the heat from the outside air in the winter and brings it into the house. In the summer it does the opposite by taking heat from the inside of the house and placing it outdoors to cool the house.
The Water source heat pump uses the heat in a water source, pond, lake, etc. and moves that indoors and again in the summer the heat of the house is removed and placed in that water outside.Â
The Geothermal Heat Pump uses the constant 54o+/- heat naturally occurring in the ground and moves that heat into the house in the winter and in summer it takes warm air from inside the house and moves it into the ground. This is the most efficient of the three but does usually cost more.Â
The following link gives a detailed description of Heat Pumps presented by the US Department of Energy:
The website is full of important information on the different types of heat pumps and how they can be used.Â
