Analysing A Heat Pump

Many people are looking for cost efficient, energy saving, environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional heating systems. The heat pump fills this need sufficiently. The heat pump uses natural resources like water, air, and the earth itself to generate heat for a home or business. What makes these units so cost efficient is the fact that the needed resources are easily acquired and mostly free. A heat pump works by acquiring the heat from one of these resources at a fairly low temperature and then raising the temperature to the necessary level before releasing the heat to a ventilation system.

A heat pump has the unique benefit of multiplying the units of heat energy that it takes in. For example, if a heat pump consumes one unit of air and takes the heat from it, it will generate four times the amount of heat that it originally took in. This system can produce an energy saving of about 60% versus traditional heating sources over a five year period. The biggest obstacle that most homeowners face is the high initial cost of a heat pump. However, if they were to compare the cost savings over eight years, they would see that the higher cost would be offset by the amount of money that can be saved over the long term. Swedish homeowners have already realized the value of the heat pump as there are more than 30,000 heat pumps installed in homes all over Sweden.

Heat pumps use working fluids for heat acquisition and transfer. The original boiling point of the working fluid will be lower than the temperature of the heat source. The working fluids also work to transfer heat from the heat pump to another area. Heat is acquired from the working fluids by passing them through a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger raises the temperature of the working fluid and causes it to evaporate.

A compressor then puts added pressure on the vapor, causing its temperature to rise. The heat exchanger then takes the added heat from the vapor and transmits it to a transfer agent which will then reroute it through the ventilation system. Removing the added heat from the vapor causes it to cool to the point that it condenses and returns to it original liquid state. The liquid is then sent back to the evaporator to be reused to repeat the process.