Wondering what to install in your home this Autumn? A heat pump or an air conditioner? What’s the difference? Well in the simplest terms an air-conditioner cools and a heat pump heats and cools. A heat pump is like an air conditioner that can run backwards. For example, put your hand behind your fridge, you feel heat. That is because the fridge absorbs heat from the inside and pipes it out the back. This is essentially what a heat pump does. Let’s delve a little deeper.
Let’s talk about how an Air conditioner works. An air-conditioner unit is made up of three main components. In the outside unit is housed the compressor and the condenser coil, in the inside unit is housed the indoor evaporator coil. The air conditioner uses a refrigerant that transfers heat out to the outside unit into the coil which causes a chemical reaction when the refrigerant is compressed by the compressor.
The unit then pulls the heat out of the refrigerant. When it is cooled it is sent back in to the inside unit. The blower pulls in warm air from your home and moves it over the evaporator coils which cool it and then circulate it back into your home.
A heat pump can simply reverse this process in order to heat your home as well. It brings in the warm air from outside and pumps it in to heat your home. However, in really cold whether you need to also have a secondary heat source. So why choose a heat pump over and air-conditioner if you need to use a secondary heat source as well? In cooler weather you may get away with just using your heat pump but in really cold weather using the heat pump in conjunction with a secondary heat source can save you money.
Call us today and we can discuss your wants and needs and find a solution that fits your home. We specialise in both air-conditioning units and heat pumps and we have a wide range of both from simple units to units with all the extras. Our family run business is not out to just make a quick buck, we care about our customers so will find a solution in your budget for what you need. Call us today.
