Heating It Up And Cooling It Down

When one talks about cooling a hot building, or even their homes, they most probably don't think of heat pumps. In fact, the words air conditioners are most likely the first to pop up in one’s head unless they are not within their budget. If that might be the case, then one might decide to go with window fans. As it turns out, a heat pump has both heating as well as cooling functions and in some applications, it is given more preference rather than having separate heating and cooling systems.

Putting it in lay man’s terms, a heat pump is basically a device that uses a small amount of energy in order to move heat from one place to another. Not so technical right? Heat pumps are typically used to absorb the heat out from the air or ground so as to heat a home or an office building, but they can be dually used  to cool a building as well. Air conditioners and heat pumps both serve the purpose of altering the properties of the air to more favorable ones.

 In a way, if one is aware as to how an air conditioner operates, then they already know about the respective mechanisms of a heat pump. This is so because heat pumps and air conditioners both operate in a very similar way.

One of the biggest advantages of a heat pump over a standard HVAC unit is that there is absolutely no need to install separate systems to heat and cool one’s home. Heat pumps also work quite efficiently, because they simply transfer the heat, rather than burn fuel to produce it. This makes them a little more environment friendly as compared to a gas-burning furnace. Plus, they don't just heat and cool buildings. If one’s ever experienced enjoying a hot tub or heated swimming pool, then they probably have a heat pump to thank for it. These work best in moderate climates, so if one doesn’t experience extreme heat and cold in their neck of the woods, then using a heat pump instead of an air conditioner could help them save a little bit of money every month.

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