The Technology Behind More Heat Pump Sales

By: Brian Sodoma, for Service Experts

When considering a new heating and cooling system, you’ve likely come across heat pumps. While they’ve existed for more than 100 years, in 2020 they officially surpassed gas heaters in sales. Distinct from traditional heaters, which use natural gas, propane gas or oil for heating and electricity for cooling, heat pumps are fully electric.

Heat pumps are attractive since they are very energy efficient and eco-friendly; they don’t burn fossil fuels like natural gas. Heat pumps are seen as a major solution for cutting carbon emissions and studies indicate that heat pumps are a greener option for efficient heating. At the same time, concerns about their performance in cold weather have deterred some buyers. But that’s changing—thanks to new technology.

Learn more about how heat pump technology innovations are making these HVAC systems more attractive than ever for homeowners across the country.

Reasons to Choose Heat Pumps

Generating about four times the amount of energy than it uses, a heat pump is far more efficient than conventional gas furnaces and can even be more effective than a high-efficiency make/model. And even though coal-based utilities still operate today, new renewable energy sources including wind and solar are increasing, making all-electric heating and cooling systems even more enticing to today’s environmentally aware consumers.

Additionally, federal tax credits that provide up to $2,000 for qualified heat pumps are a key reason behind the increasing demand of heat pumps. When added to other state and local rebate or incentive programs, homeowners can save even more.

“Heat pumps are increasingly more energy efficient than standard gas furnaces, and they can help you significantly lower your power bill—and in certain situations, by $500 or more a year,” said Cary Reed, a Service Experts HVAC specialist.

The Inner Workings of Your Heat Pump

When it’s cold outside, heat pumps use heat from the outside air to warm your home by transporting it through coils. The heat is expelled into the home, increasing the home’s temperature. The star of the show here is the heat pump’s refrigerant, which shifts from liquid to gas–and then back to liquid–as it gathers and releases heat for each cycle.

When it’s hot, the process is flipped. Heat is extracted from indoors and moved outdoors through the refrigerant coils.

The process works as follows:

• During winter, a coil heat exchanger combined with a metering device moves heat from the outside air to the liquid refrigerant inside the coil. Even at lower outside temperatures, there is still heat present in the outside air. As the heat is absorbed by the refrigerant, it boosts its temperature to its boiling point and turns it from liquid to gas.

• Next, a compressor pumps the gas refrigerant around the system, raising the pressure of the gas where the heat is emitted into the house by a fan or blower. As the heat is emitted, the refrigerant becomes a liquid again. The process continues until the home’s thermostat is satisfied.

• A reversing valve is used to flip the system from heating to cooling. The reversing valve is regulated by the thermostat and will invert the cycle during the summer, moving heat from inside the home to the outside.

Advances in Heat Pump Technology to the Rescue

When the outdoor temperature drops, heat pumps become less effective and have less capacity for heating. But manufacturing has introduced new advancements in the technology to enhance both the efficiency and capacity of heat pumps in the winter.

For one thing, these brands are updating their designs to meet higher SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) rating standards. Installing a heat pump with a high SEER rating means smaller electricity bills for the system. While SEER largely pertains to cooling, the heat pump’s energy and cost savings across the summer go up noticeably as minimum SEER standards do the same.

And in regards to heating capacity, many brands have created systems that can sustain maximum efficiency and heating capacity even in temperatures as low as -15 degrees. This means there is a dramatic 20- to 30-degree improvement compared against standards just five years ago.

“How are they making this happen? They have access to improved variable-speed compressors to reduce the time it needs to adjust power while using less of it overall. In addition, the heat exchangers designed for modern units are considerably larger, which said. In case of severe cold, the systems can employ secondary heaters that kick in below a specific temperature.

These innovations have been partially driven by the Department of Energy’s Residential Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge, a government initiative focused on advancing heat pump innovation.

“The heat pump boom is actually a perfect storm,” Reed said. “People want to do their part for the climate while reducing energy costs, and there are strong incentives. We are even seeing some customers, who purchase a heat pump, will also upgrade their insulation to increase their energy efficiency and cost savings.”

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