During colder months, your home needs to keep you and your family toasty safe and warm from the weather outside. Homeowners are always interested in purchasing the best heating systems for meeting household needs. In general, there are two top options that people have access to, which are a heat pump and furnaces. With both systems, some might not know the differences. Therefore, we are here to help. Before making your decision, here are some tips to get you going on your way.
Heat Pumps:
A heat pump is part of HVAC equipment designed to transfer heat into your home rather than generate it. Heat pumps also have a consistent heat source that produces thermal energy. This heat transfers to a system known as a heat reservoir that will store and distribute when need be.
Heat pumps also have primary components such as the evaporator, condenser, expansion valve, and compressor.
With heating pumps, an external power source moves the energy. These systems will use the outdoor heat combined with specific electrical power so air will warm up before being distributed throughout the home.
However, during the warmer months, these pumps can also help cool your home down, which many do not know, considering the name.
Heat Pumps also require significantly less maintenance than other heating systems that are combustion-based. They will, though, require annual inspections, unlike a typical furnace. If heat pumps are well maintained, these different systems will remain functional and reliable.
With the good, there is also the bad. Heat pumps will have high costs from the get-go, along with much higher installation costs. Heating pumps also tend to be more challenging to install and sometimes require special planning permissions.
Furnaces:
Moving onto the furnace, this is a heating system that is either gas or oil-fired to produce a specific heat. Ducts force warm-air distribution until it uses a particular system to distribute heated air to different building areas. This heating air is released into your home from grills or air registers.
Furnaces also require heat sources such as flames. Flames will warm the heat exchanger up so that heat can then be moved into your air. Once this happens, the furnace will push air and effectively forces it through the specific exchanger—any potentially harmful byproducts of this process releases from the home from the fluid pipe.
Furnaces can warm up pretty fast, which means that you will be saving money in the long run. These units also can produce heat constantly, which is a vital attribute during the cold winter.
With drawbacks, however, a gas-fueled furnace can present various risks to your well-being and health. Among these risks are also explosions, fire, and even carbon poisoning. With electric furnaces, they can consume large amounts of energy, which really can affect your budget.
As we said before, there are many different reasons to get either of these systems. Take time to do your research and consider what is best for your home itself. With this in mind, the professionals at Neuhau’s Heating and Cooling can help you in any way that we possibly can. When giving an opinion or installing what you need, we are here for you. If you have any questions or want to make an appointment, please give us a call today!
