The pros and cons of heat pumps - Rewiring America

If you’re ready to upgrade your HVAC system, heat pumps are the best choice for your home, your budget, and the planet. That’s why, as of , more homeowners are choosing to buy heat pumps instead of gas furnaces.

With competitive price and timely delivery, OUTES sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.

But getting a heat pump is a big decision. It’s worth thinking about it from all the angles. Here’s everything you need to know about the perks of the pump.

Heat pumps are two appliances in one — they heat and cool your home. A heat pump can replace both a traditional air conditioner and a home heating system like a furnace, boiler, or inefficient baseboard heat. Why get two machines when one can do both jobs?

Heat pumps will lower your utility bill. Because heat pumps are 2 to 3 times more efficient than many traditional heating systems, homeowners are upgrading to heat pumps to reduce their high energy bills and protect themselves from the price spikes that come with extreme weather or high energy demand.

The average household in the United States can save $370 per year by switching to a heat pump. Homeowners switching from inefficient systems that run on fuel oil, propane, or traditional electric resistance (like baseboard heat or electric furnaces) can save closer to $1,000 per year.

Heat pumps have a slightly higher upfront cost than a traditional furnace, but there’s lots of money available to help reduce you save. The average heat pump installation is about $16,000. Luckily, the Inflation Reduction Act provides generous tax incentives and rebates (up to $8,000) to make heat pumps more affordable. Check our IRA savings calculator to see if you qualify for federal tax rebates and incentives.

Many states also provide additional cost-saving programs (Massachusetts offers up to $16,000 in rebates, for example) and private companies are stepping in to offer helpful financing. Plus, you’re paying for something that can replace both your heating and cooling system. If you compare a heat pump to a furnace and AC combo, it’s a more similar price from the start.

Heat pumps work even in very, very cold weather. Thanks to technological advancements in recent decades, heat pumps keep your home toasty warm even when the temperature dips down as low as -20° Fahrenheit. In fact, Rheem, a heat pump manufacturer, successfully tested their heat pumps with the Department of Energy in sub-zero temperatures. Still skeptical? Heat pumps heat roughly half the homes in snowy Norway, Finland, and Sweden, and more than 115,000 heat pumps have been installed in Maine, one of the coldest U.S. states. (As they say, if you’re an HVAC system that can make it in Maine, you can make it anywhere.)

Heat pumps are just comfier. No gusts starting and stopping. Heat pumps provide much more even thermal comfort, and temperature control.

Heat pumps reduce your home’s carbon emissions. Home heating and cooling is the single-largest source of emissions in your home. Fight climate change and create a healthier environment by purchasing a heat pump.

Learn more about how heat pumps work all year round here.

Awareness of air source heat pumps is increasing as more and more homeowners are talking about low carbon heating systems. A heat pump system is different to a traditional central heating system that uses a gas or oil boiler so to help homeowners fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of this renewable technology, we have summarised some in this article.

An air source heat pump cleverly uses the heat energy in the air and captures this to be used in a central heating system. Instead of using a fossil fuel, heat pumps are a renewable energy source and require electricity to power them. They do operate differently to a traditional heating system so living with a heat pump is not the same as a gas or oil-fired system.

Are you interested in learning more about Air Source Heat Pump Manufacturer? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

There are many benefits that homeowners can enjoy when they own a heat pump but it is important that they understand the differences too, so let us take a look at some air source heat pump pros and cons.

Advantages of heat pumps

1. Save costs on fossil fuels

If your home is currently heated by a fossil fuel, such as gas, oil or LPG, then swapping to a heat pump will mean you will no longer need to order these fuels, allowing you to heat your home more sustainably. You can therefore enjoy not having these fuel costs to pay each month as your gas bills will be no more!

2. Heat pumps are very efficient

When an air source heat pump is installed and set up correctly, they are very efficient units, maximising output for the energy consumed. For example, the Grant Aerona³ 6kW air source heat pump produces 6kW at a SCOP of 4.62 when tested at a low temperature and in average climate conditions (SCOP refers to the efficiency of a heat pump, calculating its overall performance during a particular season and dividing this by the annual energy consumed to run the heat pump). In summary, what this means is that for every kilowatt of energy used to run the heat pump, over 4kW of energy is being given to the heating system in return.

To view the performance data of Grant heat pumps, please download the data sheet here.

3. Sustainable heating solution

An air source heat pump appliance itself burns no fossil fuels and uses electricity. With more and more of the electricity generation in the UK now being produced via renewables, this makes a heat pump a better choice for the environment than gas boilers.

4. Low maintenance and user-friendly

Grant heat pumps are user-friendly being both straightforward to control and simple to maintain. When an installer sets up and commissions a heat pump, they will set the core parameters of the system so that the end-user has minimal interaction with the controls. Thereafter, the homeowner can adjust their desired room temperatures via third-party controls, which may be app enabled, and they can sit back and enjoy their renewable system. The only thing to remember is to arrange the annual servicing of the heat pump.

Disadvantages & considerations of heat pumps

1. Increased electricity usage

As mentioned above, heat pumps do need electricity in order to work so if you install a heat pump, you will likely see an increase in your electricity usage. It is recommended that homeowners contact their energy supplier to see if a heat pump electricity tariff is available which may be a cheaper and more suitable tariff for an electric based renewable heating system.

2. You may need to install new radiators

A term you will often hear of with heat pumps is ‘low temperature system’. Unlike boilers which are high temperature systems, a heat pump operates at a lower flow temperature so to ensure that this heat can be effectively transferred into the space within the home, sufficient heat emitter surface area is needed and this is why correctly sizing the heat emitters is so important. It is not always possible to use existing radiators with a new heat pump as larger radiators, or an underfloor heating system, may be better suited.

3. More preparation is needed to design the system

Compared to traditional boiler replacements, a heat pump installation requires significantly more planning and preparation. The design of the system must be thoroughly completed with a detailed heat loss calculation carried out on the property to ensure it is well insulated, as well as a correct assessment of the heat pump output required and the correct sizing of the chosen heat emitters.

Ensuring your property is well insulated is key for an effective heat pump. We recommend as a minimum checking your loft, cavity wall and window insulation. You can find out more on our blog – how to prepare your home for a heat pump.

It is important that no corners are cut during the design phase to ensure that the system installed is the right one to meet the heat demand of the property most effectively and efficiently.

Provided the unit is installed correctly, adhering to all the do’s and don’ts which are detailed in our heat pump brochure, a heat pump will deliver years of reliable, sustainable home heating.

Homeowners need to be well informed about heat pumps so if you are interested in learning more about this renewable technology, visit our Knowledge Hub.

For more information, please visit Monobloc Heat Pump.