What's the difference between an air conditioner and a heat pump?

Heat pumps and green energy go hand in hand to make your home an earth-friendlier place to live.

Heat pumps versus air conditioners—which will give you the most bang for your buck when thinking about green energy? Being conscious of the environment and of your carbon footprint is important, especially when it comes to your HVAC system. Since you use your HVAC system nearly every day of the year, ensuring it is safe for the environment can make a big impact and provide you with peace of mind.

Heat pumps are being compared more and more with air conditioners by homeowners seeking to utilize green energy as well as lower monthly utility bills. Both work by using a refrigerant as a way to move heat from one place to another through compression. But this is where their similarities end.

Consider these major differences between heat pumps and traditional air conditioners:

1. Air conditioners use fans, evaporator coils, and refrigerant to take hot/warm air and blow it over refrigerant filled coils and put cooled air into your home. Heat pumps get their energy directly from the earth and even return it. This is a renewable energy source!
2. Heat pumps are more costly to purchase and install than air conditioners, but they also have lower operating costs than air conditioners because they require less energy to run. Heat pumps may also come with more rebates and incentives for purchasing and installing than traditional air conditioners.
3. Air conditioners do not have the ability to produce as consistent and even temperatures in buildings like heat pumps do.

While there are energy efficient air conditioners on the market today, if you are looking for green energy specifically, you may want to seriously consider having a heat pump installed for your home’s heating and cooling needs. Click this link or call our team of green energy experts at G&M Service at 919-772-8820 to learn more about the earth-friendly and budget-friendly benefits heat pumps have to offer.

by: Phil Smith