The Cool Science Behind Heat Pumps
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Based on data from 2017, on average, nearly 12% of Canadian cumulative household expenditures are on energy. (This differs by province and region—with a lower share in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario and higher in the Atlantic Provinces. See Figure 1 below.)1
Yet, when you introduce heat pump technology into your HVAC system, you have the potential to use significantly less energy than ordinary electric heating. For households that heat with electricity this can lead to much lower energy consumption, which could also translate in significant cost savings on monthly energy bills.
The question is: Where does the energy savings come from in heat pump technology? To answer this, let’s look at the cool science behind heat pumps and how they work.
Heat naturally moves from an area with a higher temperature to one with a lower one. A heat pump essentially captures this heat energy and pumps it in the opposite direction. So, on a hot summer day when the heat would naturally want to enter your cooler home, your heat pump will take that indoor heat and pump it out. Same goes for when it is cooler out – the warm air in your home naturally wants to escape into the cold outside but the heat pump will extract heat from outside and pump it back in2.
Heat pumps capture and transfer heat (in the form of energy) from the surrounding environment in order to heat or cool your home.
Energy is captured from the environment: In contrast to typical furnaces which consume fuel (e.g., natural gas) to create heat—heat pump technology captures energy from an existing source (e.g., the air or the ground) and pumps it inside a space (e.g., your home).
Heat pumps can both heat AND cool: Heat pumps function exactly the same as air conditioners with the added bonus that they can be reversed to bring heat inside. Heat pump technology works on two basic principles which also govern how most air conditioners, refrigerators, deep freezes and other cooling equipment works:
Keep these three tips in mind if you’re looking to get even more energy efficiency out of your home’s heat pump system:
To learn more about heat pumps and air conditioning, visit our Ultimate Air Conditioning Guide!
Got questions about how a heat pump can up your home’s energy efficiency? Call on Reliance™ and get a free consultation with one of our Home Comfort Advisors today.
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