Columbus Heating and Cooling Question: What Is an Air Source Heat Pump?

Most Columbus heating systems have as their main component some sort of heat generator, such as a furnace. These machines generate heat through some form of combustion, which obviously converts energy directly to heat, which is then distributed throughout the home. That’s a pretty simplified schematic explanation, but that’s more or less how most heating systems work.

Air source heat pumps are another type of heating solution; one that does not actually produce or generate any actual heat. There is no combustion. What an air source heat pump (ASHP) does instead is regulate the temperature of the home by essentially moving air around.

An air source heat pump uses electricity to exchange indoor and outdoor air. Think of it like a more versatile air conditioner. In cooling mode, like your Columbus air conditioner, an ASHP will pump warm air from the inside out, using a system of refrigerant-filled coils and a compressor. By turning the ASHP to heating mode, the refrigerant flow is reversed, allowing the outdoor coils to extract heat from the outdoor air and pump it in higher concentrations to the inside.

Your average Columbus heat pump is not a very complicated piece of equipment. Since they move heat instead of generating it, they can be extremely efficient. Most heat pumps have a heating efficiency of 150 percent to 300 percent, so they are producing up to three times the amount of heat energy than the electricity needed for them to operate. If you are using electricity to heat and cool your home as it is, heat pumps can be an excellent home comfort solution. If you already have a heat pump, you might think about replacing it with a newer model to take advantage of the new technology that makes this level of efficiency possible.

However, air source heat pumps are not necessarily right for every situation. In colder climates, where temperatures drop below 30 degrees Fahrenheit for stretches at a time, a heat pump will likely not be able to keep up on its own. In these situations, you may either need to supplement the ASHP with an additional heating source, or use a different system altogether. Newer so-called “cold climate” heat pumps may also be an option. Under ideal circumstances, an air source heat pump can act as a complete home heating system, as well as providing heat for hot water.

If you are looking for a simple and efficient home heating solution, give Quality Air Heating and Air Conditioning a call today to learn more about whether an air source heat pump can work for you.