Late summer is a good time to perform an assessment of your older air conditioner and determine if a replacement is in order once the summer turns to fall. It’s also a good time to evaluate your heating situation before the temperatures drop here in Oregon City, OR. In both cases, you would do well to consider a heat pump as a possible option. Though not right for every home, they offer a number of advantages, including combining the effects of a heater and an air conditioner into one single system, Here’s a quick breakdown about how they work.
ACs with a Twist
An air conditioner works by circulating refrigerant through a series of valves and coils. They first bleed heat out of the refrigerant (releasing it outside), then pull heat from the nearby air (inside, where the cool air can then be circulated through your ducts). Heat pumps work the same way, but with an added feature: they allow you to reverse the flow of refrigerant, releasing warm air inside and cool air outside. That lets it serve dual duties as a heater and an air conditioner.
The Benefits
Heat pumps tend to do extremely well in environments like ours with comparatively mild winters, and recent improvements in the technology have made them more effective than ever, and you can see the results with your winter heating bills. Because heat pumps use a renewable source (the refrigerant) to generate heat instead of gas or electricity, they cost much less to operate than other forms of heating, and the reduced strain also lessens the chances of a breakdown or similar issues with wear and tear.
If a heat pump sounds like a good fit for your home and you’re in the market for a new system, contact the pros at Clean Air Act, Inc. to discuss your installation options.