Congratulations on your new heat pump installation! (We hope you called our technicians for the installation. Professional work is the best way to ensure a heat pump works right for years to come.) Now that you have a heat pump rather than a furnace and air conditioner, you have a compact and efficient solution for your comfort needs around the year.
Because you’ve never had a heat pump for your house before, we’d like to share some important facts about it. This information can help you get the most out of the new system, as well as help you know when to call for heat pump repairs in Tampa, FL and schedule maintenance.
The heat from a heat pump is different than from a gas furnace
Heat from a gas furnace is the type most people are familiar with. The heat coming from a heat pump doesn’t feel the same. What feels different is the temperature of the air as it exits the vent. To reach the setting on the thermostat, a heat pump sends out cooler air from the vents, but runs for longer. This makes the house feel cooler at first, but eventually it will reach the desired temperature. Because of this, people often make the mistake of thinking a heat pump doesn’t provide as much heat as a gas furnace.
The heat pump needs maintenance twice a year
People often assume a heat pump, as a single HVAC system, only needs a single maintenance inspection and tune-up per year. After all, an air conditioner only needs one. A furnace only needs one. But a heat pump is doing the work during the year of an air conditioner and a furnace, and it needs the same level of care. We recommend you schedule HVAC maintenance as you normally would: maintenance in spring to prepare for summer, then in fall to prepare for winter.
The heat pump works almost the same in heating and cooling mode
A heat pump doesn’t combine two different types of comfort systems into a single cabinet. It uses the same components and operation to deliver heating and cooling to a home. All a heat pump needs to do to change from one mode to the other is switch the direction refrigerant flows through it. This causes the two sets of coils (indoor and outdoor) to swap functions. In heating mode, the indoor coil releases heat, and in cooling mode, the coil absorbs heat.
A heat pump will probably lower your heating costs
If you used an electric furnace before replacing it with a heat pump, you’ll probably see a drop in how much it costs to heat your house in winter. It may not be dramatic, but that’s because you don’t need to have the heat running that often in our weather. But it does require less electricity for a heat pump to provide warmth than an electric furnace (or even a gas furnace), so don’t be surprised to see a pleasant drop in your winter utility bills.
“Serving Our Tampa Bay Family with Integrity and Honor.” Call The A/C Guy of Tampa Bay Inc. for heat pump service.