Looking to buy a heat pump? There are some factors you need to understand when looking at all the different types of heat pumps.

When you first start out to buy a heat pump, you may be overwhelmed trying to understand all the many different heat pump components and the various types of products available on the market today. We’ll go over some of the factors you need to understand when looking to buy heat pumps.

How Heat Pumps Work

First of all, any heat pump is type of air conditioner that can used to heat a room or home as well as cool it. The first concept for heat pumps was first conceived by 1852 by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, a physicist who was widely known for his work with “thermodynamic” or absolute temperatures.

Lord Kevin thought of a device that could pull or extract heat from one location or space and transfer or move it into another. That is the simple idea behind how heat pumps works – heat transference. The first devices using this principle were air conditioners but by 1937 the first commercially available, “Dualators” or all-in-one heating and cooling systems (forerunners of the modern heat pump) were being sold.

But even then buying a heat pump was problematic. Early model heat pumps were bulky, noisy and prone to frequent refrigerant leaks and malfunctions. Not to mention that most of these first home units seldom worked properly during freezing temperatures or soaring heat waves.

But many building contractors and land developers liked buying heat pumps because they are relatively cheap, easy to install, fix into almost any style of home or structure, can be used in wide range of climates and environments and under ideal conditions can be more energy efficient than fossil fuel furnaces.

What to Look For When Purchasing

The first thing you want to look for is a heat pump with a high efficiency. But first you need to know how efficiency is actually measured. In the US the SEER and HSPF numbers are the standard rating system. The SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) is the test that measures how well an air conditioning unit works during a summer season.

The higher the SEER is, the better the heat pump efficiency and usually the lower your energy bills will be. HSPF (Heating Seasonal Performance Factor.) is a test that measures how well a heating unit work during a winter season. Like the SEER the higher the HSPF the more money you will save.

What size heat pump does your house need? Heat pumps are measured in tons: 2 ton, 3 ton or 5 ton is common for home units. A ton is a measure of cooling. Every ton of cooling is equal to 12,000 BTU/hour. A BTU is just the amount of energy it takes to change the temperature of a pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit (oF).

Sounds confusing right? But all you need to know is that when buying a heat pump a heat pump that is too small will never heat or cool your home properly. While one that is too large will in summer time, add too much moisture into the air, causing mold and mildew problems; and in winter time, an oversize unit will cycle on and off too quickly adding unnecessary stress to the unit’s expensive components.

What is the best brand to buy? When thinking about buying a heat pump people often get bogged down in worrying about this brand or that one. While studies have shown that’s each heat pump installation is a custom job and that’s the biggest source of problems is a poor setup versus bad equipment. So your biggest concern when buying heat pumps should always be making sure that you hire a reputable and qualified HVAC contractor.