If you have a heat pump in your Hallsville, Texas, home, you know that it keeps your house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Heat pumps are efficient and an excellent alternative to traditional furnaces and air conditioners. Let’s look at the basics of how a heat pump works and several benefits you’ll receive from having one in your home.

Heat Pump Basics

Heat pumps are ideal for milder climates, as they transfer warm outdoor air into your home or expel hot indoor air outside. During the colder months, the outdoor air contains enough heat energy for the heat pump to extract heat from outdoors and transfer it inside. During the warm months, the heat pump has its reversing valve switched and draws hot air from inside your house and expels it outside, making your home feel cooler.

How Heat Pumps Work as an Air Conditioner

Once the reversing valve of the system gets switched to cooling mode, the cold refrigerant, whose primary function is to absorb heat, circulates through the evaporator coil inside the interior unit of the heat pump system. From there, the now hot refrigerant ends up in the condenser coil of the outside part of the heat pump system. Fans then blow over the hot refrigerant and expel the heat to the outside. The heat is constantly extracting hot air from inside and exhausting it to the outside in a loop as long as the air conditioner is running.

How Heat Pumps Work As a Heater

During the winter, the reversing valve position gets changed to heating mode. The heat pump system extracts heat energy from the outside air into the condenser coil, which now acts as the evaporator coil. Fans blow this warm air over the refrigerant, which absorbs the heat from the condenser coil and carries the warm air into your home. Again, this is a continuous loop while the heating mode is running.

What Kind of Heat Pumps Are Available?

• Air-source heat pumps: These are the most common types of heat pumps. They transfer warm air from the inside of the house to the outside and transfer warm outside air inside.
• Geothermal heat pumps: Geothermal heat pumps transfer heat from your house to the ground and vice versa. Ground temperatures stay at a fairly consistent temperature year-round, so there’s plenty of heat energy for the heat pump to extract.
• Water-source heat pumps: Similar to air-source heat pumps, water-source heat pumps extract and dissipate heat through a series of pipes laid at the bottom of a body of water. This type of system needs a body of water nearby with a fairly consistent temperature.

What Are Some Benefits of Having a Heat Pump?

• They’re energy-efficient. Because they don’t generate warm or cool air but simply transfer it, the system uses far less energy than a traditional HVAC system.
• They last a long time. With proper maintenance, a heat pump can last for 20-25 years, while furnaces and air conditioners may only last 15-20 years.
• You’ll save money on energy bills. Because the heat pump isn’t generating hot or cool air, it uses less electricity, saving you money on energy bills.
• You only have one system to maintain. Instead of maintaining a heater and an air conditioner, our service technicians only have to maintain one outdoor unit and one indoor unit.
• They help reduce your carbon footprint. Because you’re using less electricity to heat or cool your home, and you’re not burning fuel, heat pumps reduce the negative impact on the environment, improving your carbon footprint.

As you can see, heat pumps are very beneficial for your home. To have a new heat pump installed or your existing heat pump maintained, give JD’s A/C a call today to schedule an appointment. We look forward to speaking with you at (903) 336-6401.

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