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What exactly is a heat pump, and what does it do?

Many people are talking about heat pumps these days. Heat pumps have become popular since the government announced that they would consider offering rebates for switching to heat pumps. But why?

Most typical Canadian houses use the standard system for their heating and cooling needs, which means they use a gas furnace in the winter to heat their home and an air conditioner to remove the heat from their home to feel cool in the summer.

But what exactly does a heat pump do?

A heat pump is a appliance like an air conditioner but, in short, it works in both directions. The heat pump absorbs heat from outside and brings it to the home to provide heat in winter, and removes heat from the home in the summer.

What is the difference between the heat produced by a gas furnace and a heat pump?

A gas furnace must burn gas to produce heat. In the best-case scenario, it burns one unit of gas to provide one unit of heat. In this case, we consider the efficiency to be 100%, but this never happens in reality. We always have less than 100% efficiency. Also, because it burns gas, it produces combustion air containing carbon monoxide and dioxide, which is released into the environment by a venting pipe.

On the other hand, a heat pump never produces heat. It just absorbs existing heat in the environment and moves it from inside to outside in summer or from outside to inside in winter. It uses one unit of electricity to run the compressor and move refrigerant in the pipes to move 3 unit of the heat. For this reason, we can consider it to be 300% efficient, or three times more efficient than a gas furnace.

Also, because a heat pump does not burn any fossil fuel, it never produces any combustion air and never releases it into the environment. So, we never have a carbon footprint with a heat pump.

Because of these two main benefits:

1. Saving on energy
2. Less carbon footprint

Heat pumps have become very popular nowadays. So, with or without government rebates, switching to a heat pump can help save a lot on energy, help the environment and the next generation, and prevent global warming.

Now the question is, which heat pump is right for you?

Every home has different needs, but based on standard conditions, we can provide you with a suitable heat pump based on your home's square footage to have an estimate.