Heat Pumps

Heat Pumps

How your heat pump heats your home

  The heat pump is most efficient when the outdoor temperature is cool to moderately cold – around 25°F or higher. So it is really good for central Texas. In the winter, your  heat pump takes the heat from the outside air and pumps it inside. You ask, how does the heat pump make heat from cold air?

1) Heat is absorbed from cold air outside by a low temperature, low pressure refrigerant.

2) The gaseous refrigerant then passes through a compressor and is compressed into a high temperature, high pressure vapor.

(In English; Compressing the refrigerant makes it really hot))

3) As refrigerant passes through an indoor coil, heat is transferred to indoor air and the refrigerant condenses to a liquid.

(In English; The fans blows over the hot coils and you feel warm air.)

4) Warm air is then circulated throughout your house by the furnace fan..

5) The liquid refrigerant returns to the outdoor coil where it once again becomes a vapor and the cycle starts over.

  Again, your high efficiency heat pump takes care of heating your home until the outside temperature dips below a certain temperature. At this temperature, referred to as the “balance point,” the heating capacity of the heat pump equals the heating requirements of the home.   Above the balance point, your heat pump is a more economical heat source. Below it, a fossil fuel source is often more economical. You can get the best of both worlds with a  Dual Fuel approach, but that’s another story.

How your heat pump cools your home

  Now to cool your home with a heat pump, we just reverse the process, yes its that simple.  Your heat pump automatically becomes a central air conditioning unit, heat is removed from the warm air inside your home by pumping it outside. Here are the details.

1) Heat is absorbed from inside air by a low temperature, low pressure refrigerant in the indoor coil.

(In English; The coils get cold when the refrigerants are expanded in the indoor coil)

2) Cool, dehumidified air is circulated in the house.

3) Heated, gaseous refrigerant flows to a compressor, which then raises the pressure and temperature of the gas and pumps it to the outdoor coil where heat is transferred to the outdoor air.

(In English; The refrigerant is re-compressed so it can be expanded again to make more cold air.)

4) Refrigerant condenses into a liquid in the outside coil as heat is given off.

5) Liquid flows back to the indoor coil where it vaporizes, and the cycle starts again.

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