About Heat Pumps: How they Work and Advantages

Toronto’s extremely cold winters challenge homeowners to keep homes warm, and many choose natural gas to power furnaces and boilers. CBC reports that a U.K proposal bans heating with fossil fuels in new homes by 2025. As the Canadian government plans to phase out natural gas in a few years, you may find it an opportune time to switch to a heat pump for your home. An increase in the tax on natural gas because of its carbon footprint may make your decision practical and economical.

Understanding the Need for Change

Almost three-quarters of the energy that Canadians use to heat homes comes from fossil fuels. Most homes have forced air furnaces or steam boilers and radiators which typically burn natural gas. While no one likes the tax increase, it may provide a convincing reason to find a more efficient heating and cooling system.

Learning about Using a Heat Pump

As you consider replacing your system with an electric heat pump, some facts may help you learn more about it and how it works. With a proven record of performance for Canadians, heat pumps can keep your home comfortable year-round. They can give you cool air in the summer and a warm environment in the winter with retrofits of your existing systems or installation in a new home.

How It Works

Amazing as it may seem, a heat pump can use a naturally occurring scientific fact to produce heating and cooling for your home. The difference between above-ground and subsurface soil temperatures lets a heat pump provide support for heating or cooling your interior space. When the ground has a warmer temperature than the air, it moves the heat inside where you need it. The reverse function moves hot air into the ground, creating a cooling effect.

When you hear about alternative energy sources that benefit the planet, they may not mention the Earth itself. However, when the heat or cold you do not want in your home goes into the ground, groundwater or air, it makes them become alternative energy sources.

Comparison to Existing Systems

From experience, you know that your furnace does not get 100 percent efficiency from the natural gas or heating oil that it burns to warm your home.

Heat pumps use an alternate principle to accomplish the same effect but more efficiently. The electricity that a heat pump uses allows it to transfer heat or cold between two locations to get rid of the one you do not want and replace it with the one you do. A similar transfer occurs in your air conditioner by moving the heat out and creating a cool environment.

Considering Some Advantages of Heat Pumps

Energy efficiency moves to the top of the list of important things to consider when you face Canadian winters. The capacity of heat pumps to handle the cold includes many advantages that can provide a basis for deciding how to heat your home. The versatility of heat pumps lets them cool the air in the summer as well as warm it in the winter, unlike air conditioners that can only cool.

Environmentally Friendly
Heat pumps produce low emissions because they transfer the heat or cold to the outside without burning anything. By using the Earth’s renewable energy, they reduce your carbon footprint and help protect the planet.

Reliably Long Life
Providing many years of service makes heat pumps a reliable provider of warm or cool air when you need it. The life span averages around 15 years, but well-maintained equipment may extend its useful service to 20 years or more.

Versatility
The ability to switch between heating and cooling makes heat pumps usable all year. They can perform as a furnace in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer.

Quality Air
A heat pump can improve the quality of your home’s indoor air. Without using any kind of combustion to create energy, they cannot introduce carbon monoxide into your home. The air does not lose humidity as it does with air conditioning, providing an appropriate balance that enhances comfort.

Savings on Utility Bills
You may wonder if you can save money by switching to a heat pump, and you can. The SEER rating helps you calculate the difference between traditional HVAC systems and heat pumps. SEER provides a measure of heating and cooling capacity in Canadian temperatures. When you compare your energy bill with a traditional HVAC system to the cost of running a heat pump year-round, you can see the difference.

Mitsubishi Electric heat pumps produce energy savings for homes that currently use oil, electricity, or propane. Advances in technology create ductless units with remarkable efficiency. The Zuba-Central ambient heat pump system addresses Canadian winters effectively while reducing your carbon footprint and improving the quality of indoor air. With one of the highest rankings for energy-efficient HVAC systems, it can produce the heating and cooling that welcomes family and friends to your comfortable home.

Simpler and Safer
Without a combustion-based heating system in your home, you can have a safer way to provide heating and cooling. Science tells you that heat pumps can operate more safely than a system that uses combustion.

Conserved Energy Use
Without the need to burn fossil fuels or rely on electricity to generate heating or cooling, heat pumps need only a minimal amount to relocate air.

Reduced Cost of Operation
Our professional installation ensures you of efficient operation over many years. Instead of an annual check that most HVAC systems require, you can reduce your maintenance costs with less frequent professional inspections. Heat pumps require lower maintenance and may need service only every three to five years. Heat pumps cost less to run than systems that use combustion to generate energy.

Handling the Cold
The Zuba system can provide heat for the extreme cold of Canadian winters. A design built especially for our temperatures, it can produce heat even at -30°C. An exclusive feature, the Hyper-Heat Inverter technology lets it perform amazingly well under our severe winter conditions. While you may expect it to take up a lot of space and produce excessive noise, neither occurs. As an alternative to geothermal options, it occupies a minimal footprint and makes virtually no noise. Zuba stands as a leader in supporting green technology and remarkable energy efficiency.

Incentives for Retrofits

A Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) offers low-interest loans to Toronto homeowners as an incentive for switching to energy-saving practices and replacing old heating and cooling equipment. New energy-efficient products contribute to the preservation of the planet while providing financial benefits and savings.

Confirming Reasons to Switch to Heat Pumps

In anticipation of rising costs for energy, you may want to choose to offset increased expenses by using a heat pump to heat and cool your home. The transfer of cooled or warmed air from one location to another with a compressor and refrigerant makes it less expensive than your existing HVAC. As an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners, they greatly reduce the costs of traditional equipment.

Your advantages include a reduction in electricity consumption, operating costs, and greenhouse emissions. You may gain a financial advantage when you sell a home equipped with the latest technology that benefits the planet. Your ability to manage your electricity use effectively can pay dividends as soon as you switch to heat pump heating and cooling for your home.

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If you're looking for a reliable and long-lasting heat pump, contact HeatPumps.ca. Our track record of faithful operation and longevity is a testament to our commitment to quality. Additionally, be sure to check out our heat pump rebates and incentives to save even more money.