Green Equipment Options Provides Mechanical Contractors Energy Efficient HVAC Alternatives by Providing the Most Advanced Heat Pump Equipment, Including Geothermal Units
Campbell, CA (PRWEB) October 30, 2013 -- Until April 2013, it was common knowledge that heating and cooling takes 50% of the home's energy usage. Although forced hot air remains the primary form of home heating in the US a heat pump can prove to be more energy efficient and it cools too. In general, people are amazed about how a heat pump works. Basically, a heat pump is much like a home central air conditioning unit except it can also work in reverse. The central air conditioner in your home takes the heat in the home and throws the heat outside. Many remember putting a hand on top of the air conditioner and feeling hot air come out of the condensing unit when the fan was on. Well a heat pump is like that but as mentioned, it also works in reverse too taking heat from outside and bringing it inside the home.
Heat pumps sound wonderful but they have some concerns. A potential problem with traditional heat pumps occur when they are used in extreme temperatures. This is especially true when heating the home with a heat pump. The outside air is not a static temperature and when the air gets colder outside it is harder for the unit to extract the heat from that air to heat the home. That being said the heat pump will take longer in those situations. To help the heat pump warm an inside space in areas that can get colder, heat strips are added to the heat pump when it is manufactured. Also in the winter months, the heat pump tends to need to run longer than traditional natural gas furnaces for the desired effect and to get the same comfort level.
A great advancement is the modern heat pumps' energy efficiency improvements - they now have energy efficiency ratios (EERs) in the range of 20 to 30, compared to about 3 for direct electric heating (Renewable Energy World). So for many people, it is cheaper to install a heat pump for space heating than to heat the house with oil or gas; if the electricity comes from solar, even better.
Now take a water sourced heat pump and use it in conjunction with geothermal drilled loops and the experience is much better. This is because the ground's average temperature is a static 55 degrees. This is much easier to work with than the air sourced heat pump that is trying to use freezing temperatures to heat a home. Of course, another potential solution is to use a swimming pool instead of the outside air with a water sourced heat pump for heating and cooling.
The geothermal solution can be 400% more efficient.
Susan Nichol, Green Equipment Options, Inc., http://www.greenequipmentoptions.com, +1 408 412 8500, [email protected]
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