In case you want to invest in a heat pump for your house, you may be interested in knowing its advantages and disadvantages. Indeed, heat pumps have grown immensely popular among homeowners for a multitude of readers. While they are quite efficient at heating, they also require a lot of maintenance. So, in case you get a heat pump, chances are that you will be reaching out to heating service repair companies quite often. This is because after every few months, you will feel the need of an inspection. In case something is faulty, then chances are that you will have to get it repaired. After all, these pieces of equipment work quite hard in their own way.
What is a heat pump?
A heat pumping system is the one that moves heat from one point to another. It makes use of a compressor, and a gas or liquid refrigerant. Using these, the heat pump extracts heat from sources outside and pumps it inside. Usually, this requires a lot less electricity as compared to the traditional electrical heaters that convert electrical energy into heat.
Based on the first law of thermodynamics, the heat gets converted from one for into another quite efficiently.
Furthermore, contrary to what its name suggests, a heat pump can also be used to cool a house during the summer months. This can be achieved by simply reversing the process, in which the heat is extracted indoors and is pumped outside. This cools the house. However, in winters, the process is the opposite as stated in the former case.
Nevertheless, heat pumps are still not very common and are gaining their popularity slowly. With increasing awareness about the costs that homeowners can save, many are now moving to heat pump after giving up other traditional methods of heating and cooling a house.
Without a doubt, heat pumps are a great alternative to electrical heating systems, and those that use fossil fuels such as coal or oil. At the same time, they are also quite efficient. Furthermore, they do not cause any harmful emissions (for as long as they follow the local codes of emissions).
What are the benefits of heat pumps?
There are quite a lot of benefits of heat pumps. The most notable among these include:
Safety
Heat pumps are much safer as compared to other systems, especially electrical systems.
Cheaper
Heat pumps are also quite cheap to run as compared to gas boilers, oil boilers, and electrical systems.
Less carbon emissions
They are far more friendly as compared to most of the other heating systems, due to a less emission of carbon.
Less maintenance
While maintenance is a big requirement for heat pumps, they still require significantly less maintenance as compared to other heating systems.
What are the disadvantages of heat pumps?
Heat pumps may have a number of disadvantages. These include:
High starting cost
Generally, heat pumps can be expensive to begin with.
Difficult installation
The installation might be difficult, as a result of which the installation costs can be higher.
Depends on climate
Heat pumps do not work very efficiently in highly cold areas. So during a very cold season, they cannot work very efficiently. However, this problem can be overcome by making use of an upgraded system (thought that will also increase you overall cost). Hence, its working can be a little complex and it is not well-suited to everyone.
Routine inspection
In order to make sure that it is working efficiently, you need routinely inspection. Sometimes, this may require a repair from heat pump repair huntington companies. So, be ready to deal with some unexpected operational costs.
