Thinking about a heat pump as a way to heat and cool your home? If you are, you’re probably weighing up heat pumps against other heating and cooling sources. And just like that, we already have a major benefit of owning a heat pump – its versatility. One unit can both heat and cool a home, without the need to buy extra appliances to do those things. Here are four other advantages of investing in a heat pump for your home.
- Heat pumps are the ultimate in user convenience. A heat pump lets you increase or decrease the temperature of your room, or switch from heating to cooling, at the push of a button. Once the room reaches your desired temperature, the heat pump automatically maintains that temperature for you. Meanwhile, programmable timers make it easy to warm up or cool down your home even when you’re not there. As another big bonus, heat pumps don’t produce ashes, moisture or any other waste material that needs to be removed. You don’t have to go outside for firewood or pellets or leave home to fill up your gas bottle. When cooling or dehumidifying, there is also no need to empty the water reservoir as your heat pump is plumbed in and has a permanent drain to the outside.
- Heat pumps are safe. Gas heating or wood burners have hot surfaces and flames on which children or pets can burn themselves. Heat pumps don’t, of course, and can also be left on while you’re away from your home or asleep.
- Heat pumps create “non-stuffy” heat. Heat pumps don’t require oxygen to burn and create heat. They merely transfer heat energy from one place to another, and this means the room feels much more comfortable and lets you breathe easier. On the other hand, gas heaters need oxygen for gas to burn and release the heat energy that this process generates. This can cause stuffy rooms, as well as condensation on your windows.
- Heat Pumps are cheap to run. Heat pumps are the most cost-effective form of electric heating. World-class heat pumps achieve average Coefficient of Performance (COP) figures of four or more; this means the generation of four kilowatts of heating or cooling power uses an average of less than one kilowatt of electricity. Meanwhile, a conventional heating system like an electric fire has an average COP of less than one; to put it another way, it burns more than one kilowatt of power to produce a kilowatt of heating power. The higher the COP the cheaper a heating appliance is to run, so heat pumps are far more cost-effective when compared to other heating sources. Heat pumps are also the most energy-efficient heating offering between 300% to 400% efficiency. This compares extremely favourably to other sources; in money terms, for every dollar you spend you get the following output:
- Wood Burners 0.45c
- Gas 0.82c
- Electric Bar Heater 0.98c
- Heat Pump $3 to $4
Heat pumps offer significant advantages in every respect. If you’re thinking about having one installed in your home, then a heat pump is well worthy of your ongoing consideration.
