Heat Pumps And Climate Change

Unlike traditional heating and cooling methods, heat pumps are not a source of heat; they are rather a transportation system to take heat from one place and move it into another. Heat pumps use the ideal gas law, much like a refrigerator, to heat and cool your home without the use of a heat source. There are a couple of kinds of heat pumps, but all styles work to bring heat into a home from an outside source and vice versa when the home needs to be cooled.

Open-air heat pumps use two sets of coils to heat and cool your home. The indoor coils and outdoor coils move hot air from the warmer to the cooling coil. When the coil in your home gets hot, it will push the air outside, where it will cool. The cold air will then get moved back into your house to absorb more of the heat. This works in reverse when your home is cold and requires warm air. 

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Geothermal heat pumps work in a very similar way to open-air heat pumps, but they use a coil buried under the ground to cool and heat the air. Although a geothermal heat pump requires a more intensive and expensive installation, it is often a more efficient system. This is because the ground holds a more consistent temperature that is often opposite of the temperature of your home. For example, in the summer, when your home is hot, the coil underground is significantly colder. When your home is cold, the earth holds a higher temperature than the outside air in the winter.

Heat Pumps require almost no energy to run and are far more efficient than traditional heating and cooling methods. Since they require no fueling of a heat source, heat pumps do not release significant amounts of greenhouse gasses into the environment. Heat pumps only move heat and do not create it, so they use far less energy and have a much smaller carbon footprint. Although heat pumps may come with a hefty installation fee, they cost almost nothing to run

When we examine heat pumps, it is important to compare the effectiveness of the method when compared to traditional heating and cooling methods. If a heat pump cannot heat or cool your home efficiently, it is not a viable alternative to combat climate change. Studies have shown that heat pumps are an effective and efficient heating and cooling method in most climates. 

If you live in a place that experiences the extremes of the climate spectrum, heat pumps may not be the best option for your home. For example, if you live in a place that experiences a blisteringly hot summer, a heat pump will not make a significant difference in how comfortable your home is. The same can be said about places with extremely cold winters. Since heat pumps only move the heat around, extreme temperatures in and out of the home simultaneously will render it far less effective than traditional methods. Because of this, heat pumps are best in mild climates.

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The bottom line is that heat pumps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% when compared to traditional heating and cooling methods. The lack of a heat source makes this method a viable option to combat climate change in your own home. If you live in a climate that does not experience extreme heat and blistering cold, heat pumps can be an incredibly effective and efficient way to heat and cool your home while keeping sustainability in mind. Not only are heat pumps better for the environment, but they are also more cost-effective over time. If you are looking to make improvements to your home and want to reduce your carbon footprint, heat pumps are a great alternative to traditional residential heating and cooling methods. 

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1. Heat Pumps are a significant method of reducing greenhouse gasses in residential heating and cooling. 
2. Heat Pumps are far more cost-effective over time. 
3. Mild climates are where heat pumps thrive.

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