Cincinnati Heat Pump Services

A heat pump looks like a central air conditioner and is about the same size. However, a central air conditioning system only provides home cooling while a heat pump heats and cools your home. You can think of it this way – a heat pump is an AC in the summer and a reverse AC in the winter.

Most central heat pumps are split systems, meaning they have an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. Some heat pumps are packaged systems, which means they usually have the compressor, condenser, evaporator coil, and fan located outdoors in a single cabinet.

During the summer, a heat pump extracts heat from your indoor air, transfers the heat through refrigerant, and releases it to the outside. Like an air conditioning system, a heat pump has three main components:

• A Compressor
• A Condenser
• An Evaporator Coil

The indoor unit, which contains the evaporator coil, removes undesired indoor warmth and humidity from the air. The outdoor unit, which contains the condenser and compressor, takes the heat that was captured indoors and releases it outside. The heat pump operates in a continuous cycle to keep your home comfortable. When the room reaches the temperature set on the thermostat, the heat pump turns off. As the room warms up, the thermostat turns the heat pump back on.

In the winter, the heat pump takes that hot air and, instead of venting it to the outside, pushes it back into your home. Quite simply:

• When an air‐source heat pump is heating your home, the cooling cycle is reversed. Whereas an AC works just in the summer, the outside unit of a heat pump system works all year.
  
• In the outdoor unit, the heat pump evaporates a low‐temperature refrigerant. As the liquid evaporates, it absorbs heat from the outside air (even winter air contains heat!).
  
• After the gas is compressed in the outdoor unit, it passes into the indoor coil and condenses, releasing heat to the inside of the house.
  
• In addition, since the outside unit is providing the hot air, a heat pump system does not include a furnace. Instead, it utilizes an air handler to circulate the warm air throughout your home.

At Thomas & Galbraith we can recommend a heat pump to fit your budget and your home.