Both heat pumps in cooling mode and air conditioners use the seasonal energy efficiency rating seer which tells how efficiently they use electricity.
Heat pump versus air conditioner.
Air conditioners do not provide heating but heat pumps do.
In many ways heat pumps are functionally the same as conventional air conditioners.
Conventional air conditioners are less expensive to purchase maintain and operate while heat pumps provide conditioned air more efficiently which reduces monthly energy costs.
Think of air conditioners as heat pumps that can only pump heat in one direction from the inside to the outside.
In the winter the opposite will happen and your heat pump will warm your house instead.
The higher the rating the less power they consume.
An air conditioner produces heat in order to provide cooling.
Heat pumps must now have a seer of at least 13.
During hot weather a heat.
Thanks to a reversing valve in the outdoor unit a heat pump can absorb heat energy from outside air even in extremely cold temperatures and transfer the heat inside the home where it releases the heat into the air.
While a furnace is designed to generate only heat a heat pump warms your home in winter and cools it during the summer months.
The difference if it exists is that air conditioners are especially designed for cooling while heat pumps are especially designed for heating.
Because heat pumps remove heat from a cool area and transfer it to a warm area they can be used to both heat and cool and so can be useful all year long.
Since the cooling capacities of both a heat pump and conventional air conditioner are about the same the heating capacity should carry the most weight when choosing one system over the other.
The only real difference is that a heat pump can reverse itself so it can provide heating when needed.
The largest advantage is an air conditioner will give you a cool comfortable home in the summer with less upfront cost than a heat pump.
In the summer heat pumps will move the warm air outside leaving your house cool.
Heat pumps can heat and cool your home.
While essentially identical in cooling mode heating mode is a completely different story.
If you already have an energy efficient way to heat your home such as a high efficiency gas furnace then perhaps a heat pump will not yield a high enough return on investment.
Air source heat pumps have typically electric resistance elements to provide heat in sub freezing temperatures when their compressors are ineffective and ac may not have these elements.
A heat pump works instead by transferring heat from the air back and forth from inside your home to the outside without producing heat thus using less energy.
