Few homeowners can afford to waste their money buying the wrong type of heating and cooling system. Here's some tips on how to do compare heat pump brands.

When it comes time to repair or replace your old heating system, you need to know how to compare heat pump brands properly.Heat pumps have come a long way since these all-in-one systems became commercially available in 1937. In the past, anyone who claimed ownership of a heat pump was often considered the laughing stock in their area. Original heat pumps were noisy, prone to frequent breakdowns and blew out warm air in the summer and cool air in the winter.

But due to stiff government mandates the efficiency of home heat pumps has risen dramatically over the past few decades but you still have to compare heat pump models to find the best ones for your house and budget. Despite advances in noise reductions, increased durability and overall effectiveness, you need to understand how to compare heat pumps so that you don’t get taken advantage of by disreputable contractors and sloppy installers.

Understanding the heat pump rating system should be your first step. All heat pumps sold in the US have to two specific ratings: The SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating) and the HSPF (Heating Seasonal Performance Factor). The higher the number of each rating, the more efficient a unit is and the less money you will waste on electrical bills.

The SEER or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating measures efficient a heat pump is at cooling down a house during summer time highs. You should compare heat pumps that have ratings between 14 and 18. The HSPF or Heating Seasonal Performance Factor measures how much energy is used to heat a home during a winter time cold snap. You should compare heat pumps with ratings that range between 8 and 10.

Now here is tip most people don’t think about. If you are going to use your heat pump primary as an air conditioner than you need to find one with the highest SEER number you can reasonably afford. But on the other hand you want it as your main source of winter heat, compare heat pump brands with a higher HSPF numbers.

The next factor you need to look at is the size of the unit needed for your home. 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.

It all sounds nerdy, yes? But what you really need to know is that when comparing heat pumps you want one that is the right size. A unit 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 back into the air, causing mold and mildew problems; and in winter time, will cycle on and off too quickly leaving you cold and chilly.

The only way to ensure that you are looking for the right size is to hire a HVAC professional to perform a complete heat gain/loss calculation and test. This way when you compare heat pumps, you will have something more solid to base your requirements on than your best guess at to what you need.

And no you can just use the number from your old heat pump. If over the years, you have remodeled, added in additional rooms, windows or increased your insulation, you must recalculate the heat gain/loss and get the right tonnage for the house as it now stands. Using these tips above you should be able to compare heat pump models head-to-head, which will lessen the stress of finding the right one for your home.