Efficiency is no longer an option when it comes home comfort in Cincinnati. It’s essential. The economy may be down, but thanks to advancements in comfort technology, such as air-source heat pumps, you don’t have to sacrifice comfort in the name of savings.

Heat pumps provide comfort year-round, functioning as both air conditioners and heating systems. A heat pump consists of an indoor and outdoor unit, like a traditional air conditioner. In summer, it collects heat energy from inside your home and “pumps” it outside. Thanks to a reversal valve, when the weather turns cool, the unit’s coils switch roles, and refrigerant flows the opposite direction through the system. Now, the system collects heat energy from the outdoors and pumps it indoors.

Even if the weather outside is chilly, there is heat energy present for the unit to work with. Because the system is not generating energy, but simply moving it around, it uses much less fuel than a conventional furnace or air conditioner. In fact, according to the Department of Energy, a heat pump can create three times the amount of energy used to operate it.

A heat pump offers numerous benefits in Ohio’s climate:

• Efficiently provides heating and cooling from a single system.
• Greatly reduces energy consumption for heating, from 30 to 40 percent.
• Significantly decreases impact on the environment.
• Efficiently removes indoor moisture, more so than a standard air conditioner.
• Increasingly high energy savings mean homeowners can recoup the cost of initial purchase and installation several times over its life span.

While heat pumps are efficient most of the year, when the weather outside turns really cold they can lose efficiency. This is because there isn’t much heat outside for them to work with. New technology, such as dual-fuel systems, allows the heat pump to fall back on a more powerful gas furnace during freezing conditions. By utilizing each system for what it’s best at, dual-fuel systems save even more money.

If you’re interested in raising your home’s comfort and efficiency with a heat pump, call Tri-County Heating & Cooling. We’re proud to help Butler County and Greater Cincinnati area homeowners save money while staying comfortable!

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.