Heat pumps for cooling – it’s not as crazy as it initially sounds. Heat pumps work as an efficient cooling solution by reversing the process used to heat your Northeast Ohio home.
How do heat pumps cool your home?
Heat naturally flows from high to low temperature areas. A heat pump reverses the process, moving heat from the low-temperature area to the high-temperature area. In the winter, the heat pump uses the refrigeration process to absorb heat from a heat source (the ground or outside air) and release it in your home. When it’s warm in the summertime, the system uses a reverse valve to switch to cooling mode. That valve lets coolant flow across the system’s coils in the other direction. The coils absorb heat inside and release it into warmer air outside, like a conventional air conditioner. In a geothermal system, the heat energy is rejected into the ground.
Benefits of cooling with heat pumps
Air-source heat pumps’ cooling performance likely will rival that of high-efficiency air conditioners. This should be no surprise since they use a similar process for cooling. The main benefit, though, is that this cooling system is also a heating system.
With our humid climate, you may also want to consider a ground-source heat pump. Geothermal systems are more efficient dehumidifiers than conventional air conditioners and air-source heat pumps. The ground-source system’s coils are larger and flatter, which allows more air to be dehumidified and conditioned.
A drawback to ground-source heat pumps is cost. Geothermal heat pumps can cost as much as three times what air-source heat pumps cost. Some of that cost investment is recouped in operating expenses since geothermal heat pumps are much more efficient (ground and water temperatures stay relatively constant compared to air temperature).
Maintenance of ground systems may be more expensive, but they also tend to need less repairs since they’re not exposed to inclement weather like air-source systems with their outdoor condensing unit.
You may also be eligible for a federal energy tax credit of up to $300 with a qualifying air-source heat pump. A geothermal heat pump, meanwhile, may qualify for an even more generous 30 percent federal tax credit.
For more information on cooling with heat pumps, please contact us at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning, serving the Lorain, Elyria and Oberlin areas with more than 50 years of combined HVAC experience.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heat pumps and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area