Debunking 5 Myths About Heat Pumps in Silver Springs, MD
The increasing popularity of heat pumps is a good sign for anyone who cares about energy efficiency and decreasing their carbon footprint in Silver Springs, MD. But despite these and other advantages, some hidden myths continue to keep homeowners from giving them a chance. To help fix that, we’re going to debunk five common myths about heat pumps.
They Don’t Work Well in the Cold
This myth particularly downgrades air-source heat pumps because it’s more difficult to extract heat from air that’s already cold. Few make this claim about ground-source heat pumps because during cold winters, the temperature underground — which is where ground-source pumps take heat from — is warmer than the temperature on the surface.
For quite a while, it was true that a heat pump would become far less efficient when temperatures fell below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. At that point, gas furnaces would be much more effective at heating your home. However, heat pumps now come with heat strips that generate additional heat for the system and go a long way toward closing the efficiency gap.
They Don’t Work in Old Buildings
While moving into an old building can have its challenges, installing a strong and reliable indoor comfort system doesn’t need to be one of them. If the old building you live in has ductwork left over from a previous central HVAC system, it’ll still be possible to install a heat pump. A skilled team of installation professionals can retrofit everything for you.
They Only Provide Heating
This is a myth that only those who know very little about heat pumps are likely to believe. The truth is that heat pumps can both heat and cool a home when necessary. We call them heat pumps because they work through a process called heat transfer.
In some ways, they work like air conditioners because they use refrigerant to drain heat from one area and deposit it into another. However, thanks to their reversing valves, heat pumps can channel the flow of refrigerant in one direction while cooling and channel the flow of refrigerant in another direction while heating.
Their Maintenance Is Difficult
HVAC professionals consistently advise people to schedule professional-grade maintenance on their systems at least once per year. Without this, a wide array of negative consequences will follow. Neglecting maintenance can cut short your system’s service life, cause it to break down sooner and raise your utility bills.
Because heat pumps can both heat and cool homes and they’re relatively compact, you may conclude they’re more sensitive and difficult to do maintenance on them. This isn’t true.
HVAC service technicians will be happy to perform maintenance on your system. As long as you remember to schedule maintenance at least once per year, you should be able to enjoy a high performance from the system’s 15-year average lifespan.
They Are Noisy
Like some of the other myths on this list, this one used to be true in the past but no longer is today. Today’s heat pumps use the very latest noise-reduction technologies. At most, you might hear a gentle hum coming from the outdoor portion of your heat pump as the fan does its work.
When things function normally, this noise should be slight and unobtrusive. Today’s heat pumps make only about 55 decibels of noise, which is about as loud as a normal conversation between two people or the ambient noise on a typical street. Any noises that are either louder than or different from a slight hum indicate that your system needs repairs.
Now that you understand why heat pumps are a better option, we hope you’ll take an interest in them. What we’ve discussed here barely scratches the surface of what they can do. To learn more, call our professionals at B.M.C. Clower Heating and Air Conditioning to arrange heat pump services in Silver Springs, MD.
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