5 Benefits of a Heat Pump

If you need a new heating and cooling system, you’ll want to know about heat pumps. As an alternative to traditional air conditioners and furnaces, these systems can efficiently cool and heat your home in any season. Before you invest in a new furnace or air conditioner, find out more about what heat pumps are and their main benefits.

What Is a Heat Pump?

A heat pump is a type of heating and cooling system that can heat your home in the winter and cool it in the summer. Unlike furnaces, heat pumps don’t require any fuel to run, as they’re powered by electricity. These systems also don’t generate hot or cold air like an air conditioner or furnace. Instead, they capture cold or hot air from the outdoors and transfer it to inside a home.

When heat pumps are on their heating setting, they pull heat from cold outside air and redistribute it inside. Likewise, they pull cool air from warm outside air and transfer it inside when they’re set to their cooling setting.

While heat pumps are effective at cooling and heating a home, you should know that they can be less effective when used in particularly cold climates. For example, heat pumps will perform much better in eastern North Carolina than in upstate New York. However, geothermal heat pumps are an exception, as they draw warm air from underneath the ground and provide consistent heat even in incredibly cold climates.

The Top 5 Advantages of Heat Pump

Due to a heat pump’s unique design and ability to heat and cool a home year-round, they come with a few benefits that make them a great option for homeowners in mild climates. For example, these systems offer increased energy efficiency, lower long-term costs, and greater heating and cooling flexibility compared to traditional heating and cooling systems. Learn more about the top five benefits of heat pumps below:

1. Greater Year-Round Heating and Cooling Flexibility

Since heat pumps can provide warm air in the winter and cold air in the summer, they’re much more flexible than an air conditioner or furnace. Instead of having to rely on two systems to cool and heat your home, heat pumps allow you to only need one. As a two-in-one system, you can also save money by investing in a heat pump, as you won’t have to pay for a separate furnace and air conditioner.

2. Increased Energy Efficiency

When you’re looking for an energy-efficient system, heat pumps are an excellent choice. They only transfer hot or cold air instead of generating it, meaning they use less electricity than standard air-conditioners and don’t require any fuel. Since they’re better at dehumidifying than traditional air conditioners, they also consume less energy over the summer. Due to all of these qualities, heat pumps are incredibly energy efficient. Additionally, their increased energy efficiency results in reduced carbon emissions, making them environmentally friendly.

3. Quieter Operation

Compared to furnaces and air conditioners, heat pumps tend to be a much quieter option. Since a heat pump is designed to be quiet and its compressor is installed outside, most of its noise is limited to the outdoors. As a result, you won’t have to deal with a furnace making strange noises or a rattling air conditioner when you decide to use a heat pump.

4. Lower Long-term Costs

If you’re looking to save money in the long term, heat pumps are an excellent choice. These devices reduce costs by not requiring any fuel and lowering a homeowner’s electricity usage. Besides offering lower energy-related costs, heat pumps don’t require as much maintenance as other heating and cooling systems. Due to heat pumps’ durability and design, they tend to come with fewer maintenance and repairs expenses.

5. Improved Safety

Since heat pumps don’t rely on gas combustion to heat your home, they’re a safer option than furnaces. When a furnace is damaged, it could potentially leak toxic gases into your home, expose people to carbon monoxide, or create a fire. In contrast, a heat pump only needs electricity to run, eliminating many risks homeowners with furnaces face.

Choose Newcomb and Company for Heat Pump Installation and Maintenance in Raleigh

Due to the many advantages of heat pumps, our team at Newcomb and Company is happy to offer heat pump installation and maintenance services to our clients in Raleigh and the surrounding area. If you're considering purchasing a heat pump, our team can inspect your home to see if you’d benefit from a standard or geothermal heat pump. After our inspection, we can install a heat pump for you and maintain it throughout its life.