For Mobile area homeowners who want a highly efficient and cost-effective source of residential cooling, heat pumps offer benefits that standard air conditioners can’t match. The following brief introduction can help you understand how a heat pump can keep your home comfortable throughout cooling season at a lower cost and with less use of energy.

Basic Heat Pump Function

Heat pumps work by moving heat from one place to another. For cooling operations, they pull heat out of your home and disperse it into the air outside. This is accomplished with a liquid refrigerant that circulates between the indoor and outdoor units of the heat pump. Indoors, the refrigerant is evaporated into a gas. As it changes state from liquid to gas, it absorbs heat. The gaseous refrigerant circulates to the outdoor unit, where it’s condensed back to liquid form. The gaseous refrigerant releases the heat it contains during this second change of state. The liquid refrigerant moves back to the indoor unit and the cycle begins again.

Heat Pump Benefits

Heat pumps are extremely energy efficient, which means they use less energy to produce excellent levels of cooling. They require minimal amounts of electricity to power the functions that generate cooling, which reduces overall demand on your local utility company. Their high rate of efficiency means that heat pumps are much less costly to operate on a month-to-month basis.

Heat Pump Types

Most heat pumps are air-source models, which means they use the air around the equipment as the source of heat transfer and release. Geothermal heat pumps use the ground outside your home, or a nearby body of water, as the medium for heat capture and release. Ask your local trusted HVAC contractor if a geothermal model would be right for you.

Learn more about Keith Air Conditioning’s heat pump options, or contact us today at 251-476-3610 to schedule an appointment for your Mobile area home!