You may have decided that your old air conditioning system has just gone through its last summer of cooling your home. Time to replace it. But replace it with what?
You might automatically think, “With another air conditioning system, of course.” But this isn’t your only option. You might find that putting in a heat pump is a much better choice than going with a standard air conditioning system.
Heat pumps offer several major benefits as home comfort systems, but the biggest one is that heat pumps operate as both air conditioners and heaters. They aren’t two systems packaged into one: they use the same set of components to deliver heating or cooling to a house.
The easiest way to think of how a heat pump works is to visualize a standard central air conditioner. An AC circulates refrigerant between two sets of coils, indoors and outdoors. The indoor coil removes heat from the air, cooling it, and then the outdoor coil releases the heat. A heat pump works the same way—it’s a refrigerant-based system and from the outside looks identical to a central AC—except it can reverse the flow of refrigerant, and this causes the two coils to swap roles. Now the exterior coil absorbs heat and the indoor coil releases it. Presto! An AC becomes a heater.
But here’s the big question: is this system enough to handle our weather? Is a heat pump installation in Kenner, LA a viable choice for you?
Let’s talk about the heat pump. If you aren’t familiar with the heat pump as an HVAC option, here’s the lowdown:
A heat pump is similar to an air conditioner. It uses electricity to power a compressor that places refrigerant under pressure. The refrigerant circulates between two sets of coils, indoors and outdoors. Hot refrigerant moving from the compressor first releases heat by condensing in one set of coils, then the cold refrigerant absorbs heat by evaporating in the other set of coils. What’s different with a heat pump is that it can reverse the way it circulates refrigerant. An AC can only move refrigerant so it absorbs heat from the indoor coils and releases heat through the outdoor coils. A heat pump can switch this process, bringing heat from the outside indoors. This means it’s a heating and cooling system in one.
