It just keeps getting hotter every year, the world recently recorded its hottest month ever since we began keeping track. Like it or not, climate change is causing heat waves to be increasingly routine events, resulting in an alarming number of heat related health emergencies and even deaths! The need to keep cool in your home has become more critical than ever before!
While most homes in Australia are equipped with an air conditioner, recently a better, more environmentally friendly option has emerged on the market, heat pumps. Switching to an electric heat pump is a great way to live in an eco-friendly fashion and work against climate change.
Despite the somewhat confusing name, heat pumps are actually a special kind of air conditioner. Similarly to a traditional AC, heat pumps keep things cool when it’s hot outside, accomplishing that by removing the unwanted heat from your home by pumping it outdoors. The great advantage over a regular AC unit is that heat pumps don’t just provide cooling on hot days, but also to provide indoor heating when it’s cold outside!
This amazing effect takes place through the action of refrigerant gases that are first expanded, then compressed within the heat pump’s system. Heat pumps boast a significantly lower climate impact than traditional AC equipment because they are more efficient. The heat pump’s carbon savings are a result of the fact that they don’t create heat by burning fossil fuels. They work by pulling heat in from the outdoors in the winter and doing the opposite in the summer. Moving heat using electricity is significantly more efficient per unit of energy than doing so by burning fuel, an improvement that will result in major savings on your energy bills.
Heat pumps can offer you a highly energy-efficient alternative to old style air conditioners and furnaces, and are applicable in all climates. Similarly to the way your refrigerator works, the heat pump utilizes electricity to draw heat from a cool space to a warmer space, resulting in the cool space growing cooler and the warm space growing warmer. During the hot season, heat pumps remove heat from your house to blow it outdoors, thus cooling the interior, and during the cold season they blow the cool air in your house outside making it warmer inside. Heat pumps are very efficient at providing your home with comfortable temperatures all year long.
The best time to switch to a heat pump is when your old AC needs replacing. The most prevalent type of heat pump is the ducted air-source heat pump, which operates by transferring heat between your house and the outside air. Modern heat pumps are designed to reduce your electricity use by up to 80% when compared to electric resistance heating units like baseboard heaters. High-efficiency heat pumps also have the ability to dehumidify the home much better than standard central air conditioners, resulting in significantly lower energy consumption and more effective cooling during the summer months.
Another popular heat pump is the ductless air-source model that offers a flexible and highly efficient solution for heating and cooling your home without the need for installing ductwork. The ductless systems are ideally suited for implementing zone heating and have the ability to significantly lower your home’s energy use when compared to other heating methods. Yet another ductless option is the air-to-water style heat pumps that provide heating by running hot water through radiant floors and to radiators, but they don’t offer a cooling option.
Switching from traditional air control solutions to modern heat pumps will give you a versatile and energy-efficient solution for cooling and heating your home, and they are suitable to use in a variety of climates. Whichever style you choose, heat pumps will allow you to enjoy comfortable temperatures and energy savings throughout the year.