Heating, Cooling and HVAC

Air-to-air heat pumps are basically air conditioners with the capability of reversing their cycle to provide heating in the wintertime. During the summer, air conditioners remove heat from your house, and shunt it outside. Air source heat pumps have a switching system that allows them to operate in reverse in the winter, removing heat from the outside air, bringing it into your house. Since air source heat pumps are not actually creating heat, but moving it from one place to another, they are less expensive to operate than electric resistance heaters, and depending on the costs of both natural gas and electricity, possibly gas furnaces as well.

Gas is sufficiently cheaper than electricity that an air source heat pump is generally more expensive to operate than gas furnaces. For those who are unable to receive gas services, the air source heat pump is probably the best bet.

One drawback to air source heat pumps is that they get less efficient when the outside air temperature gets colder. It is harder to extract the residual heat from colder air. Electric resistance furnaces become more cost effective when the average winter air temperature is below 30°F.

Another option is ground- or water-source heat pumps. These units extract heat from the ground by using an underground loop, or from water, through an open or closed loop. Since the average ground temperature hovers around 50°F year round for most of the United States, this is a very good source for heat in the winter, and cooling in the summer. Although putting in a ground loop is expensive and repairs can be costly, ground-source heat pumps are good options for some people.

Source:www.radiant-heat-floor-methods.com