Heat Pumps
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A high efficiency heat pump provides central air conditioning as well as heating, uses less energy than traditional electric heating systems, and helps to preserve the environment. A heat pump has no flame or combustion; so no possibility of dangerous pollutants like carbon monoxide.
Heat pumps operate by moving or transferring heat, rather than creating it. During the summer, a heat pump captures heat from inside a home or business and transfers it to the outside through a condensing unit. During the winter, the process is reversed. Heat is captured from outdoor air, compressed and released inside. Much less electricity is used to move heat rather than create it, making heat pumps more economical than resistance heating. Electric resistance or strip heat is used to supplement outdoor-air-source heat pumps during the coldest weather. For the climate we enjoy in Baldwin County, air-source heat pumps (including their supplementary resistance heat) are about 1.5 to 3 times more efficient than resistance heating alone. |
