When people hear about heat pumps, they may initially think it has something to do with heating. However, it might surprise you that heat pumps can also cool your home. In this article, we’ll explain how heat pumps work and how they can effectively keep your home comfortable year-round.
What Is a Heat Pump?
A heat pump is a highly efficient heat transfer system that uses electricity to move heat between your home and the outdoors. It consists of three main components: the indoor air handler with an evaporator coil, copper tubing filled with refrigerant, and the outdoor condenser unit, which houses the condenser coil.
During the summer, the heat pump absorbs heat from inside your home and releases it outdoors, cooling your space. In the winter, the process reverses, drawing heat from the outside air and bringing it inside to warm your home. Heat pumps are known for their efficiency, often providing up to three times more heating or cooling energy than the electrical energy they consume. In many situations, they are a cost-effective solution for both heating and cooling.
How Does the Cooling Process Work?
A heat pump’s cooling process begins when the indoor air handler pulls warm air from your home’s rooms and pushes it through the evaporator coil. Inside the evaporator coil, cold refrigerant absorbs heat from the air because heat naturally transfers from warmer to cooler areas.
As the refrigerant absorbs the heat, it changes from a liquid to a gas. A pump circulates this gas to the outdoor condenser unit, where it releases the absorbed heat into the outside air. The refrigerant then passes through an expansion valve, which lowers its pressure, cooling it down further and returning it to a liquid state. The refrigerant then re-enters the indoor evaporator coil, ready to absorb heat from your home’s air once again. This cycle repeats continuously until your home reaches the desired temperature.
A Note About Humidity
Just like an air conditioner, a heat pump reduces humidity in your home as part of the cooling process. As warm air from your home passes over the cold evaporator coil, the moisture in the air condenses into water droplets on the coil’s surface. These droplets drip into the drain pan and flow out through a drain line. On particularly muggy days, a heat pump can remove up to 20 gallons of water from your home’s air, significantly lowering humidity.
Ducted and Ductless Options
Heat pumps are versatile systems that can operate with both ducted and ductless setups. Installing a forced air system can be expensive and invasive for homeowners without ductwork. Fortunately, heat pumps are available in ductless mini-split configurations.
Instead of relying on ductwork to distribute conditioned air, these systems have an indoor air handler in each room or space a homeowner wants to heat or cool. A professional connects each unit to the outdoor condenser through a conduit that only requires a small hole in an exterior wall to install.
Ductless mini-split systems are also an excellent solution for homeowners with forced air systems looking to heat or cool newly renovated spaces, such as basements or attics. Often, these areas are not served by existing ductwork, making it challenging to extend a conventional heating and cooling system into them. By adding a mini-split, homeowners can efficiently condition these spaces without the need for extensive changes to their house’s infrastructure. This flexibility allows for targeted heating and cooling, ensuring that even the most remote areas of a home remain comfortable year-round.
Contact Your Local Professionals
At Gunthers Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing, we have been serving the residents of American Fork, UT, and the surrounding areas since 1910. We install, maintain, and repair heating and cooling systems. In addition, we can help with all your indoor air quality needs and provide plumbing services. Contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced team members.
