An air source heat pump is an effective means of heating and cooling your home or business. They run on electricity and use the air temperature outside to heat or cool a building. They have a refrigerant system consisting of a condenser and a compressor. Basically, it absorbs heat somewhere and releases it elsewhere. These pumps are primarily used to heat a building, but they can also be used to cool one. In areas with moderate temperatures, they can supply all the heating and cooling needs of a building. They are also used for heating water and they can generally heat water up to 80 ° C. Sometimes they need to be mated with more traditional means of heating water because their efficiency can drop in very cold temperatures.
In winter, they extract the heat from the air outside and release the heat to the house. During the summer, it can absorb the heat in the air from inside the building and release it outside. Most standard pumps only work well at positive temperatures. Once the temperature drops below freezing, it becomes very difficult to extract heat from the air. Some pumps are designed to withstand colder temperatures; however, these pumps are most effective in areas with mild to moderate winters.
An air source heat pump consists of two heat exchanger coils. One is located outside and it draws heat out of the air. The second coil is located inside and it releases heat to a water tank or heating system, such as an underfloor heating system. Refrigerant is located in these coils and flows through the system, absorbing and releasing ambient heat. These pumps are durable and often last twenty or thirty years, and they are more efficient than traditional electric heaters. They are more expensive than traditional systems and often have to be paired with propane heating systems (or other sources) just in case it gets too cold for the pump to work.
The efficiency of these pumps is measured by something called the performance coefficient, which is measured in units. For example, most heat pumps montering produce three to four units of heat for each unit of unit they use. While these pumps are expensive to purchase and install, they can significantly reduce your heating costs because you do not generate heat, you simply move it from one place to another. Ground source and water source pumps do the same as an air source pump does, but they are often more expensive. For example, you need to dig and install the coil in the ground to install a ground source heat pump.
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