If you are looking for the most efficient way to handle your home’s comfort, you have likely heard the buzz about heat pumps. But the name can be confusing. Is it a pump? Does it only heat?
At Siemer Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, this is the number one question we get from homeowners in Schererville and Northwest Indiana.
Here is the simple definition: A heat pump is a comprehensive heating and cooling solution that heats and cools your home.
Unlike a furnace, which burns fuel to create heat, a heat pump simply moves heat from one place to another. This makes them incredibly efficient, eco-friendly, and versatile. But how exactly does that work when it’s freezing outside?
How Do Heat Pumps Work?
To understand the science, you don’t need a physics degree. You just need to look at your kitchen refrigerator. A refrigerator doesn’t “make” cold air. It works by capturing the heat from inside the box and pumping it out into your kitchen. That is why the space behind or beneath your fridge always feels warm.
A Heat Pump uses this exact same technology, but with a special component called a Reversing Valve that allows it to work in two directions:
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In the Summer (Cooling Mode) …
It acts just like a standard air conditioner. It captures heat from inside your home and pumps it outside.
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In the Winter (Heating Mode) …
It reverses the flow. It captures heat from the outdoor air and pumps it into your home.
How Do Heat Pumps Work in Winter?
How can you capture heat from the air when it is 30 degrees outside? This is a concern we hear from Indiana homeowners very frequently.
The answer lies in the chemistry of the refrigerant inside the unit. To a human, 30°F feels cold. But to the specialized refrigerant inside a heat pump, 30°F is actually quite warm. This refrigerant is chemically designed to boil and turn into a gas at extremely low temperatures (often well below zero).
Here is the simple 2-step process:
- Absorption: When the cold outdoor air blows over the coils, it is still warmer than the ultra-cold refrigerant inside. Because heat naturally moves to colder places, the heat energy from the air transfers into the refrigerant.
- Compression: The system then sends that warmed refrigerant to a compressor. The compressor puts the gas under high pressure, which causes its temperature to skyrocket, creating the hot air that warms your home.
The Solution for Indiana Winters: Hybrid Systems
While modern heat pumps can handle freezing temperatures, our NWI winters can be extreme. For our service area, we often recommend a Dual Fuel (Hybrid) System. This pairs an electric heat pump with a gas furnace.
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90% of the Winter:
The efficient heat pump handles the heating.
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Extreme Cold Days:
The system automatically switches to the gas furnace to provide powerful backup heat.
This gives you the efficiency of a heat pump without sacrificing comfort during a polar vortex. If you’re interested in installing a heat pump, we’ll assess your needs to determine the best type of equipment for you.
Learn more about how we install, repair, and maintain heat pumps.
Interested in Installing a Heat Pump?
Now that you know how they work, the next step is finding out if a heat pump is right for your home.
At Siemer Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, we treat our customers like neighbors. We will perform a load calculation on your home and help you decide if a standard Air Source unit or a Hybrid System is the best fit for your budget.
Call us today or reach out online to schedule a consultation.