If you’re considering a new HVAC system for your Bountiful, UT, home, you should seriously consider a heat pump. They’re the most efficient way to heat and cool your home and help you lower your home’s carbon footprint dramatically. To help you decide, here is everything you need to know about how heat pumps work and why you should consider buying one.
What Is a Heat Pump?
As its name suggests, a heat pump is an HVAC system that moves heat from one place to another. In the summer, it collects heat from your home’s air and carries it outside to lower the indoor temperature. In the winter, it does the opposite, capturing heat from the outdoors and bringing it inside to warm up your home.
Unlike other heating systems, heat pumps don’t consume energy to generate heat. That puts them in a class by themselves concerning efficiency. A heat pump can be many times more efficient in heating mode than its nearest efficiency competitor. And in cooling mode, heat pumps are routinely among the most efficient cooling systems on the market. Heat pumps also often include the latest technology, including variable-speed compressors and fans, so they use the minimum power necessary to provide the comfort you desire.
How Heat Pumps Work
If you’re unfamiliar with heat pumps, the above description of how they work might seem a little puzzling. After all, how can you heat your home with heat from outside when it’s cold outside? The answer to that lies in the science behind the refrigeration cycle. It involves the manipulation of the pressure of a refrigerant and the tendency of heat energy to move towards the cold.
To understand the process, you must first understand that heat energy is always present in the outside air. It’s just that we humans aren’t all that great at perceiving it. With an average body temperature of around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, humans will start feeling cold without layering up when the outside temperature drops below 77 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s because the heat from our bodies will move toward the colder air unless we add a layer or two of insulation to prevent that.
Heat pumps take advantage of heat energy in the outdoor air and the tendency of heat to move toward cold by using a refrigerant to collect it. The secret is that a heat pump contains an expansion valve that lowers the pressure on a refrigerant, which lowers its temperature substantially. After passing through the expansion valve, the now-cold refrigerant gets pumped through a heat exchanger in the heat pump’s outside unit while a fan blows outdoor air across it.
Since the refrigerant is at a temperature far lower than the outside air—in some heat pumps as low as -58 degrees Fahrenheit—it absorbs heat energy from the air. Due to the refrigerant’s low boiling point, it boils as it absorbs the heat and turns into a vapor. Then, the now-warm refrigerant vapor passes through a compressor, which increases its pressure, which causes it to turn into a hot vapor. The refrigerant vapor will reach between 120 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit at that stage.
Next, the hot vapor travels inside your home, where it passes through another heat exchanger. There, another fan draws in air from your home and circulates it around the heat exchanger. The result is warm air blowing into your home, typically between 110 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit. After transferring its heat, the refrigerant travels back outside, and the process begins again.
In the summer, the process reverses, courtesy of a reversing valve inside the heat pump. In cooling mode, a heat pump functions like a conventional air conditioner. In this way, a heat pump can handle your Bountiful home’s heating and cooling needs all year round.
Why You Should Consider a Heat Pump
There are a variety of advantages that you get from a heat pump that other HVAC systems can’t match. One of them is extraordinary efficiency. In heating mode, a heat pump can operate at efficiency levels approaching 400%! By contrast, the most efficient gas furnace you can buy can only reach 98.5% efficiency. Plus, heat pumps often have higher SEER ratings than the average central AC, so they also cost less to operate in the summer. As a result, the average household can save between 20% and 40% on its yearly energy costs by switching to a heat pump.
Heat pumps also make it possible to move away from fossil fuels. As an all-electric heating and cooling solution, you can use a heat pump to reduce your home’s carbon footprint. To do it, you can pair your new heat pump with renewable energy by purchasing it from a green provider or installing a solar power system at your home.
You should also know that there are a variety of tax credits and rebates that can significantly lower the cost of installing a new heat pump in your Bountiful home. At the Federal level, the Inflation Reduction Act included a tax credit worth up to 30% of the cost of installing a new heat pump, up to a maximum of $2,000. In 2024, a point-of-sale rebate program will begin that will reduce the upfront costs of heat pumps by up to $8,000, subject to income requirements. As a result, installing a new heat pump may be your cheapest option, as well as your most efficient option.
Finally, you should also consider a heat pump because it offers superior comfort and can increase the value of your home. This is because heat pumps allow you to keep your home at your desired temperature at all times without worrying about spending a fortune to do it. With a heat pump, you’d never have to lower your thermostat in the winter to save money or put up with unnecessarily high temperatures in the summer. And on top of that, studies have shown that installing a heat pump could add between $10,400 and $17,000 to your home’s value. This is because heat pumps are a desirable home feature that homebuyers are more than happy to pay a premium for.
Your Local Heat Pump Experts
If a heat pump sounds like the perfect HVAC option for your Bountiful home, Blue Best Plumbing, Heating, Air, Generators can help. We’re the only women-owned and operated HVAC company in Utah and boast over 20 years of industry experience on-staff. We offer comprehensive HVAC installation, maintenance, and repair services, along with indoor air quality solutions and ductwork services. We also offer complete plumbing services, too. As a Better Business Bureau-accredited business with an A+ rating, you can count on us for quality workmanship and exceptional customer service. We can even help you with financing options for your new heat pump on approved credit. When you’re ready to install a new heat pump to handle your Bountiful home’s HVAC needs, contact the experts at Blue Best Plumbing, Heating, Air, Generators right away.
