Heat Pumps

The heat pump is a device used for cooling and heating a house. It is a mechanical device that pumps heat from a cooler to a warmer location and can extract the heat from the air, water or earth. Those devices function like air conditioning systems in the summer or electric furnace in the cold season. In this context, the pump performance indicates the ratio of heat output to electric power consumption.

It is generally acknowledged that the pump performance indicator in the case of the above mentioned devices is the highest and most profitable of the cooling/heating systems. Heat pumps are in fact the most resourceful compared to other types of electric heating.

The pump performance depends mainly on the type you choose to install in your house. There are basically three types of pumps - air-to-air, water source and ground source. The devices collect heat from air, water and earth respectively and heat or cool your house. The pump performance is also influenced by the climate in which the house is placed. That is primarily why you should make sure you purchase and install the most energy efficient system.

For instance, you can get the best pump performance in a mild and moderate climate by using an air source heat pump. However, you might want to know that ground source pumps are more efficient and less noisy although the costs attached to them are higher.

In any case, the pump performance also depends on the way in which the system on the whole is installed. Aside from choosing the right dimensions and capacity, as to fulfill the cooling and heating demands of the house, you should pay a lot of attention to the way in which the pump is placed. It generally has to be fitted with demand-defrost control as to ensure the minimization of the defrost cycles hence reducing supplementary use of energy.

On the whole, the heat pumps are more cost effective than the other types of heating available on the market. They are even more and more used for heating swimming pools or water for household.

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