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A quick guide to strategic product selection
What is a heat pump and how does it work?
Like a refrigerator or air conditioner, a heat pump extracts heat from one place and transfers it to another. Heat pumps provide year-round climate control for your home because their cycle is fully reversible: during the heating season, they move heat from the cool outdoors into your warm house; during the cooling season, they move heat from your cool house into the warm outdoors.
What are the benefits?
When properly installed, a heat pump can deliver 2 - 4 times more heat to a home than the electrical energy it uses to operate. This is possible because rather than converting heat from a fuel like traditional combustion heating systems do, heat pumps move heat and transfers it from hot to cold - and vice versa - using refrigerant. Overall benefits include:
- Lower utility bills (25% to 70% lower than with conventional systems)
- Lower maintenance
- Higher levels of comfort, year-round
- Depending on type, lower environmental impacts (even factoring-in emissions from the power plant that produces electricity to operate the heat pump, total emissions are far lower than for conventional systems)
► View our Heating & Cooling or Heating Only Compare Technologies pages to see how different heating and cooling systems compare to one another in terms of efficiency, environmental impact, lifecycle cost and purchase price.
What are the different types?
There are two types of heat pumps: air source and geothermal. Air source heat pumps convert temperatures from indoor and outdoor air while geothermal heat pumps use the earth, ground water or other water sources (e.g. a lake, river or well) as a source to draw heat from in the winter, and as a "sink" for heat to be removed in the summer. Although they cost more to install, geothermal heat pumps have low operating costs because they take advantage of relatively constant ground or water temperatures. Read more about geothermal heat pumps by clicking here.
What do "split" and "packaged" systems mean?
Packaged, or self-contained units, combine the blower, compressor, heat exchanger, and condenser coil in a single cabinet. Split systems allow the coil to be added to a forced-air furnace and use the existing blower and furnace.
What do I look for when buying new heat pump?
The ARI Seal
Look for equipment that is certified by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), a non-profit organization that rates the performance of residential and small commercial geothermal equipment.
Efficiency
The efficiency of an air source heat pump is measured by the SEER rating for cooling and the HSPF rating for heating. SEER measures the efficiency of cooling units according to the BTU (energy) of cooling output during a typical cooling-season divided by the total electric energy input in watt-hours during the same period. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the heat pump.
HSPF refers to a heat pump's estimated seasonal heating output in BTUs divided by the amount of energy that it consumes in watt-hours. The higher the HSPF, the more efficient the heat pump.
► Look for high SEER and HSPF ratings for your new air source heat pump.
The efficiency of a geothermal heat pump is EER for cooling and Coefficient of Performance (COP) for heating. The EER rating measures the steady-state rate of heat energy removal (i.e. cooling capacity) by a product measured in BTUH divided by the steady-state rate of energy input to the product measured in watts. The higher the EER, the more efficient the geothermal heat pump.
COP is the ratio of the change in heat at the "output" (the heat reservoir of interest) to the supplied work. For example, a geothermal heat pump operating at "COP heating 3.5" provides 3.5 units of heat for each unit of energy consumed (e.g. 1 kWh of output heat). The output heat comes from both the heat sources and 1 kWh of input energy, so the heat-source is cooled by 2.5 kWh, not 3.5 kWh.
► Look for high EER and COP ratings for your new geothermal heat pump.
Warranty
To assure a high-quality installation, seek a performance guarantee on the installed system, as opposed to coverage limited to the heat pump itself.
Sizing
Like air conditioners, heat pumps that are too large waste energy and do not provide proper humidity control. Check to see that your contractor carefully determines your home’s heating and cooling requirements using accepted procedures, such as those recommended by the Air Conditioning Contractors Association. The actual size of the system should be within 15% of the calculated load. To learn more about proper sizing, visit ENERGY STAR's Central Air Conditioning Sizing Tutorial.
Design
Most heat pump installations require a supplementary heating system. Supplementary heat can be supplied by any type of heating system, as long as it can be activated by the thermostat controlling the heat pump.
Air-source heat pumps are available in a ductless version called a mini-split heat pump.
Geothermal systems come in closed, open, vertical ground and pond loop systems (click here to read more about geothermal heat pumps).
Buy local
To reduce carbon emissions associated with product transportation and to support your local economy, we encourage you to buy your heat pump from a local manufacturer.
Ductwork & weatherproofing analysis
Your contractor should examine your home to ensure the ductwork is designed and installed properly to prevent leaks, as well as to ensure the home is properly insulated and has window glazings and other energy-efficiency features. Minimizing heating and cooling needs reduces the required size, hence the cost, of the heat pump system.
Where can I find heat pump products on Eco-rate?
Eco-rate does not feature heat pump products and ratings because we have not been able to acquire adequate online pricing sources and/or vendors for such products. Offering both the economic and environmental costs of product ownership is integral to Eco-rate's mission. We recommend you review this Buying Guide, compare heating and cooling system technologies on our Heating & Cooling Compare Technologies page and then contact your local HVAC contractor to purchase and install a heat pump.
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