The Technology Fueling More Heat Pump Sales

By: Brian Sodoma, for Service Experts

When considering a new climate control system, you’ve most likely seen heat pumps. While they’ve been around for more than a century, in 2020 they overtook gas heaters in sales. Compared to traditional heaters, which rely on natural gas, propane gas or oil combustion for heating and electricity for cooling, heat pumps are entirely electric.

Heat pumps are appealing since they are very energy efficient and eco-friendly; they don’t consume fossil fuels like natural gas. Heat pumps are seen as a big solution for lowering carbon emissions and studies reveal that heat pumps are a more environmentally friendly option for your home heating system. That being said, concerns about their performance in cold weather have discouraged some people. But that’s changing now—due to new technology.

Learn more about how heat pump technology improvements are making these HVAC systems more attractive than ever for a comfortable, energy-efficient home.

The Benefits of Heat Pumps

Capable of generating quadruple the amount of energy than it takes, a heat pump is much more efficient than conventional gas furnaces and can even be more effective than a high-efficiency model. And even though coal-based energy plans still provide a portion of our power, new renewable energy sources like wind and solar are increasing, making all-electric heating and cooling systems even more attractive to today’s environmentally aware consumers.

On top of that, federal tax credits of up to $2,000 for qualified heat pumps are another factor driving the increasing demand of heat pumps. When added to other state and local incentives, homeowners can save even more.

“Heat pumps are becoming more energy efficient than conventional gas furnaces, and they can help you dramatically reduce your power bill—and in certain situations, by $500 or more a year,” said Cary Reed, a Service Experts heating and cooling pro.

How It Works

During the colder months, heat pumps extract heat from the outside air to warm your home by moving it through coils. The heat is released indoors, raising the home’s temperature. The star of the show here is the refrigerant, which changes from liquid to gas–and then back to liquid–as it collects and expels heat for each cycle.

In summer, the process switches the other way. Heat is removed from your home and sent outside through the refrigerant coils.

Here’s how the process works:

• When it’s cold, a coil heat exchanger together with a metering device transfers heat from the outside air to the liquid refrigerant inside the coil. Even at cold outdoor temperatures, there is still heat available in the outside air. As the heat transfers to the refrigerant, it raises its temperature to its boiling point and transforms it from liquid to gas.

• Next, a compressor moves the gas refrigerant throughout the system, raising the pressure of the gas so the heat is expelled into the home by a fan or blower. As the heat is released, the refrigerant changes back to liquid. The process goes on until the home’s thermostat is reached.

• A reversing valve is used to reverse the system from heating to cooling. The reversing valve is managed by the thermostat and will invert the cycle during the summer, transferring heat from indoors to outdoors.

New Technology Push Efficiency Even Further

When the outdoor temperature drops, heat pumps become less effective and have trouble maintaining the same heating capacity. But manufacturers have adopted important technological improvements to improve every aspect of the performance of heat pumps in the winter.

For one thing, the top heat pump manufacturers are designing systems to reach higher SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) rating standards. A higher SEER rating means lower energy use for the system. While SEER largely relates to cooling, the heat pump’s energy and cost savings across the summer rise considerably as minimum SEER standards do the same.

When it comes to a heat pump’s total capacity, many brands have developed systems that can sustain maximum efficiency and heating capacity even in temperatures as low as -15 degrees. This marks a sharp 20- to 30-degree improvement compared to what was typical just five years ago.

“How are they making this happen? Manufacturers have improved variable-speed compressors to more quickly change power levels while using less of it overall. Additionally, the heat exchangers found in modern units are significantly bigger, which lets them move heat back and forth more efficiently),” Reed {described. In case of extreme cold weather, the systems can employ secondary heaters that turn on below certain temperatures.

These advancements have been in some part due to the Department of Energy’s Residential Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge, a government initiative designed to speed up heat pump innovation.

“The heat pump boom is actually a perfect storm,” Reed said. “People want to do their part for the climate while saving money, and there are major programs from the federal and state governments. We are even seeing some customers, who purchase a heat pump, will also upgrade their insulation to make the most of their energy efficiency and savings.”

To learn more about heat pumps, visit serviceexperts.com/heat-pumps. To schedule an appointment with a member of our staff, visit our scheduling page.