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When heating and air conditioning professionals talk about heat pumps, you might assume they refer to systems that only heat. But that’s only half true.
A heat pump has all the components a central AC has, with a few extras added in. These additional components allow heat pumps to both heat and cool spaces through a single system.
Heat Transfer for Heating
Heat pumps can heat homes with mind-blowing efficiency because they don’t need to generate new heat like traditional air conditioning systems.
Rather, the heat pump makes use of heat that is already present in the air outside. This doesn’t mean that you should open your windows during the winter months, expecting warm air to flow in.
How then does this method of heat transfer work?
Heat Transfer for Cooling
To know how a heat pump heats, you first need to learn how a central air conditioner cools because they do it the same way!
A central air conditioner doesn’t generate a “cooling effect.” In other words, it doesn’t overwhelm the hot air by blasting in tons of cold air.
When you use an air conditioner to cool the air in your home, that cooling effect that you feel is actually the absence of heat.
Instead of generating heat, heat pumps use electricity and refrigerant to extract heat from the air.
The cooling process:
1. The central air conditioner removes heat from the air in your home by evaporating refrigerant in the indoor evaporator coil.
2. The heated refrigerant circulates through the duct out to the condenser coil in the outdoor unit.
3. The condenser coil then condenses and releases the heat.
The heating process:
Using a reversing valve, the system switches modes from cooling to heating by reversing the flow of its refrigerant and the function of its coils.
1. In its heating mode, the heat pump’s refrigerant in the outside unit’s evaporator coil absorbs hot air.
2. The warmed refrigerant then circulates through the duct into the condenser coil of the indoor unit, where a fan blows air on it.
3. The warm refrigerant heats this air, and the system releases it into the interior space.
Heat Pump Service and Repair Professionals
Heat pump units need professional installation, maintenance, and repair services to operate properly when you need them most.
That’s why you should leave your heat pump service in Christchurch to the professionals.
Chillwell offers professional heat pump repair and service in Christchurch. Call your friendly heat pump professionals today!
