Heat Pumps: What They Are, How They Work, Advantages Explained & Installation Prep – HVAC, Plumbing, and Electric Services in Olympia WA

Recently, we saw a question online from someone who was trying to decide if it was a good idea to move ahead with a heat pump installation. The gist of the question was this:

Heat pumps look pretty amazing on paper. Are they really as good as they look?

Dean Schmidtke, our co-owner and general manager, says heat pumps are as good as they seem—and they’re a good fit for people who live in the South Sound.

“Western Washington has the perfect climate for heat pumps because we don’t have extreme cold, extreme heat, or extreme humidity,” he says. “We have a pretty mild, maritime climate. That’s what heat pumps love.”

Now, let’s address something that causes a bit of confusion. If you need cooling and you’re not familiar with heat pumps, you might be tempted to dismiss them, simply based on the name. “Heat pump” doesn’t inspire thoughts of refreshingly cool indoor spaces. And its other common name, the ductless mini-split, is obtuse. If you’ve never heard of such a thing, what exactly does that mean? (A ductless mini-split is a single-unit heat pump that is typically installed on a wall.)

We may not have the power to rename the equipment, but we can give you information about what a heat pump is, how it works, how it came to be, and what its advantages and disadvantages are so you can decide whether a heat pump is the right choice for you.

The Basics: What’s A Heat Pump & How Does It Work?

Heat pumps are two-in-one systems that can both heat and cool indoor spaces.

Instead of producing heat, a heat pump moves heat from one place to another. Using fans, a compressor, and refrigerant—the same technology as a refrigerator—it extracts heat from the outdoors and moves it indoors when you need to heat your home and moves heat outside when you need it to be cool indoors.

In our region, the kind of heat pump typically installed in residential properties is an air-source heat pump, which pulls heat from the air outside a structure and transfers it inside. (There are also ground-source heat pumps but that’s a topic for another day.)

An air-source heat pump directs air through two sets of refrigerator coils, one in an outdoor unit and the other in an indoor unit. Refrigerant will absorb heat wherever it encounters it. When a heat pump is in heating mode, the refrigerant in the exterior unit absorbs heat from the outside air. As it heats up, it turns to vapor and runs through a compressor.

Chris Baraniuk, in an article for Yale Climate Connections, says the compressor “then forces the refrigerant to a higher pressure, which raises its temperature,” creating heated air that the unit then pushes through the ductwork or a mini-split unit. “The refrigerant later expands again, cooling as it does so, and the cycle repeats. The entire cycle can run in reverse, too, allowing heat pumps to provide cooling when it’s hot in summer.”

The History: Where Did The Heat Pump Come From?

Though heat pumps are just catching on worldwide as a more energy-efficient way to heat and cool spaces, the idea—and the technology—has been around much longer.

It’s thought that the first heat pump was designed and installed in 1857 by Peter von Rittinger. He called his 14-kW capacity unit a “steam pump”; he developed and built it so salt workers could harvest salt from brine.

This book summary dates the invention back even further: “The first working compression–expansion refrigerator (or heat pump) was built by Jacob Perkins in the 1830s. William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) first proposed using heat pumps for space heating in 1852. The ground source heat pump was patented in 1912, but the first systems were probably not constructed until the 1930s or 1940s.”

In the 1930s, Switzerland began mass producing heat pumps for interior heating. The heat pump came into residential use in the United States in the 1950s and ‘60s and gained momentum in the wake of the oil crisis in the 1970s.

The Advantages: What Makes A Heat Pump A Good Choice?

An air-source heat pump burns less fossil fuel and uses less energy to run than a gas furnace system alone (and they may get even more efficient in the future).

Energy savings. According to Energy.gov, “Modern air-source heat pumps can reduce your electricity use by 50% compared to furnaces and baseboard heaters.” In part, this is because heat pumps dehumidify spaces more effectively than standard air conditioning units, conserving energy while also making you feel more comfortable.

Installation pays for itself. Heat pumps can be more expensive to install than a furnace. But because you can use a heat pump as a heating and cooling system, the cost for installation might be less expensive than installing both a furnace and an air conditioner. Even if the cost for heat pump installation is higher than traditional systems, the cost savings on monthly bills can help make up the difference quickly.

Lower bills. When you use less energy, you pay less to heat and cool your home. Energy.gov says that energy savings for homes that switch to a heat pump can average over $500 per year, depending on your home’s energy efficiency. Rewiring America reports broader savings, saying that the average U.S. home saves more than $350 per year and notes that replacing a wildly inefficient system could save as much as $1,000 per year.

A greener choice. By switching to a heat pump, you decrease your carbon footprint, which has a lighter impact on the environment. Rewiring America estimates that you could save between 2.6 and 7.6 metric tons of carbon per year by switching to a heat pump system.

Heat Pump Installation: What To Expect

If you choose to have a heat pump installed, a professional HVAC team will install an outdoor unit and an indoor unit or units. Your installer will discuss the placement of the outdoor unit with your and show you how they plan to connect it to the unit or units indoors. In addition to the outdoor unit itself, they will need to attach parts of the system to an exterior wall.

Your installation team will need to have access to your electrical system so they can connect the heat pump to it; heat pumps are powered by electricity.

If you are having ductwork installed, your team may need access to your attic or basement to install ducting and registers. They will consult with you on the placement of each register in your ceiling or floor.

Once installed, the team will clean up any extra debris and will test the heat pump system to make sure it’s heating and cooling properly. A member of the installation team will show you how to use the thermostat and explain any maintenance needs so you know how to take care of the system so it lasts for many years.

How Do I Decide If A Heat Pump Is Right For Me?

Our relatively mild climate means a heat pump is an option for many homes in the Pacific Northwest. Typically, only houses situated in very cold climates need a furnace to function as a backup system. Still, it’s important to ask an HVAC specialist if a heat pump is the best option for your home.

HVAC specialists make recommendations on the size and type of system based on a variety of factors such as the orientation of the building you live in, the number of windows in your living spaces, local weather patterns and seasonal temperatures, amount of insulation, number of occupants, and level of activity in the home.

Proper sizing is important; a unit that’s too big, for instance, could cool a space so quickly that it can’t dehumidify it well, making the space feel uncomfortable.

Conclusion

A heat pump is an extremely efficient system for heating and cooling your home that saves energy by transferring heat from one place to another rather than producing it. Every home is different, but homeowners in our mild, maritime climate often opt for this two-in-one system that saves energy and money and that takes a lighter toll on the planet.