The Pluses and Minuses of Heat Pumps

The popularity of heat pumps has risen substantially over the past few years. Compared to furnaces and boilers, heat pumps are highly energy efficient, they can both heat and cool your home, and they are environmentally friendly.

Heat Pump Advantages

Dual Capability
Heat pumps have the ability to serve a dual role of both heating and cooling your home. To heat your home a heat pump extracts heat energy from outside and uses it to warm your home. A heat pump can also serve as air conditioning by pulling heat from inside your home and transferring it outside.

Cost Effective/Highly Energy Efficient
Heat pumps are one of the least expensive means to heat a home delivering nearly double the energy in heat than the energy it consumes, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. These systems achieve exceptionally high energy ratings compared to gas and electric furnaces and boilers. As a result energy bills are much lower.

Convenience and Comfort
Heat up or cool a room within a few minutes by switching from heating to cooling quickly and easily. In the summer heat pumps also dehumidify your home, and in the winter the system keeps the air from feeling too dry.

Improve Air Quality
Heat pump filters clean and purify the air removing dust, mold spores, odors, smoke and other particles. They are excellent for people who suffer from asthma and allergies.

Heat Pump Disadvantages

High Initial Costs
Heat pumps are considerably more expensive to procure and install when compared to forced air furnaces and air conditioning units. Pay back periods based on cost savings from lower energy usage will vary, but overtime the total cost of a heat pump system will typically be less.

Less Effective In Very Cold Environments
Once the temperature outside drops below 32 degrees, heat pumps will struggle to keep temperatures at the desired level. Most heat pumps compensate for this by utilizing conventional electric heat to supplement the system when needed. When this occurs some of the benefits of energy savings are lost.

Is A Heat Pump Right For You?
Typically those who live in moderate to warm climates will benefit the most from the cost savings provided by a heat pump. In central Indiana there are more and more homeowners who are installing heat pumps because of the much lower energy costs to run the units and other benefits associated with heat pumps.

With the higher initial costs of a heat pump, each homeowner will need to do the math and talk with their HVAC contractor to decide which heating and cooling option is best for them.

Call Meckos For A Free Estimate
Mecko’s Heating and Cooling would be happy to review your HVAC needs and provide you with our recommendations.  Just give us a call at 765-447-7555 or send us an email at Contact Us.