Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Air Source Heat Pumps

By Paul Myers


If you live in a warm climate, and when professionally installed, an air-source heat pump can provide an effective and efficient heating and cooling solution for your home. In fact, a correctly installed one can deliver between 1.5 to 3 times more heat into the home than the actual amount of electric they consume, making them highly efficient.

This is possible because a heat pump simply moves heat from one place to another rather than converting it from a fuel, like in combustion heating systems such as a gas boiler. Although air-source heat pumps are an energy efficient option, they do not generally perform well over extended periods of sub-freezing temperatures or in colder climates. In regions with sub-freezing winter temperatures, it may not be cost effective to meet all your heating needs with a standard air-source heat pump, in this case a more complex or traditional method should be employed.

Efficiency is further improved by VRF (variable refrigerant flow) techniques. The gases used within air conditioning systems are some of the most harmful to the environment hence the opportunity to reduce the volume of those gases is to be welcomed. If inverter units are used in commercial buildings, these are often ceiling cassettes which come in a variety of specifications (1, 2 and 4 way cassettes). Perimeter areas and corridor areas often use air conditioning console units.

A heat pump's refrigeration system consists of a compressor and two coils made of copper tubing. One end of the copper tubing is indoors and the other end is situated outside of the building. Usually the copper pipe is surrounded by aluminium fins to aid in the transfer of heat.

Ideally businesses should consider their cooling requirements during the colder months in order to avoid disappointment and uncomfortable working conditions, due to the volume of demand for air conditioning over the summer. Typically installation firms are quieter during the winter months and can complete projects in plenty of time before the hot weather begins.




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