Heat Pump Features Homeowners Should Consider

A heat pump is a great, low-energy alternative to a regular gas furnace. It can keep your home warm and comfortable all winter while significantly lowering your energy bills. But not all heat pumps are the same, and determining the difference between them can be something of a puzzle. So here’s a brief guide to heat pump features that can maximize your energy savings.

• Two-stage compressor: Two pistons are used to produce air instead of one, allowing it to produce significantly more air than a regular unit. The extra air helps keep you warmer using less overall heat.

• Variable-speed air handler: Just because your heat pump can produce more air doesn’t mean it always needs to. A variable-speed air handler can deliver less air to your home on warmer days and more on colder days, as needed.

• Two-stage thermostat: If your heat pump features a two-stage thermostat, it controls the amount of heat (and thus the amount of energy) produced at any given time, so less power is used when less heat is needed.

• Demand defrost control: Heat pump coils accumulate condensation. In winter, that condensation can freeze, stopping your heat pump from working and forcing it to revert to a supplemental heat system. Therefore, a defroster is one of the most important heat pump features you can have. Timed defrost systems kick in at regular intervals, whether your heat pump actually needs defrosting or not. Demand defrost control saves energy by sensing temperature or pressure to know exactly when defrosting is needed, and only run when necessary.

• Desuperheater: Usually used with a geothermal heat pump, this takes the extra energy being used by your system and channels it to other uses. A desuperheater takes the superheated gas from your unit’s compressor and uses it for heating water, which is then sent to your water heater, giving you hot water with less energy.

For more tips on heat pump features to look for, as well as general heating and cooling advice, contact our experts at Sobieski Services.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Wilmington, Delaware and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).

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