A heat pump is an air conditioning system that not only cools your home in the summer, but also provides warmth during the winter. It does this by transferring thermal energy from the air or ground to your indoor space, using the same refrigeration cycle as conventional air conditioners. The key difference is that this process uses electricity, rather than fossil fuels, to move the thermal energy from one place to another.

As a result, they typically use much less energy than traditional systems to provide heating, even in very cold climates. They can be combined with furnaces for more efficient heating when the temperature drops, or they can be used alone in milder climates.

There are three main types of heat pumps: air-to-air, water source, and geothermal. In all cases, they draw heat from the air, water, or ground outside your home, transfer it inside, and then release it back outdoors in a cycle. They are a good alternative to fossil fuel-based heating systems, like propane or oil furnaces or electric baseboard heaters, because they can cut the amount of fossil fuel used in your home, and because they use electricity for heating, which can be generated using renewable sources.

Most air-source heat pumps look a lot like central air conditioners, with an outdoor unit and an indoor unit connected by ductwork and a refrigerant line that transports heat between the two units. The indoor unit has aluminum fins and coils that release or absorb heat, which is then circulated through ducts throughout the house by a blower, warming or cooling as it goes. They are available as ducted models to fit homes with existing ductwork or as a ductless option for homes without it.

Whether it’s a single or multi-zone model, Mitsubishi Electric’s heat pumps are powered by their advanced INVERTER compressor, which adjusts capacity to meet your specific heating and cooling needs on demand. This reduces power consumption and maximizes comfort while delivering the lowest possible environmental impact. Many of our Heat Pump systems are ENERGY STAR certified.

The reason heat pumps work in cold climates is that they can take advantage of the fact that liquids like refrigerant have a lower boiling point than the surrounding air. When the heated refrigerant passes through the indoor coils, it becomes a gas that absorbs heat from your house’s air. Once it’s a gas, it travels to the outdoor unit where it’s cooled by the air, and the cycle repeats.

In the winter, when the air is colder and more dense, the process is reversed: the outdoor unit draws heat from the air, and the refrigerant condenses back into a liquid to be reused in the next cycle. This helps make heat pumps more effective in colder weather than their electric or gas-powered counterparts. Unlike other heating systems, which rely on fossil fuels to burn and generate heat, heat pumps don’t produce any harmful emissions when they run. They rely on the same electricity that all other household appliances do, but because of improved technology and an increasing share of low-carbon electricity production, they can help slash planet-heating fossil fuel usage in homes.