When the weather cools off, the heat pump switches over to heating mode and provides especially energy efficient heating
When we purchased our home, it was already outfitted with a forced air furnace. The furnace is powerful enough to handle the extremely low temperatures we get in this area. However, we had no centralized cooling system. While the local summers aren’t all that long, the temperature often remains in the high eighties with terrible humidity for weeks at a time. The house quickly becomes sticky, overheated and unbearable. I wasn’t happy with window air conditioners in specific rooms. I contacted a professional HVAC contractor for an estimate on a whole-house cooling unit. He recommended that I purchase a heat pump rather than an air conditioner. At first, this sounded like a ridiculous idea. We already had the ductwork in place for a conventional air conditioner and a heat pump costs a lot more to install. However, I did some research and combining a heat pump with a furnace actually makes a lot of sense. It’s called a hybrid heating system and works to save quite a bit of money on year round temperature control. During the summer months, the heat pump manages to keep the house nice and cool and costs less to operate than an air conditioner. Plus, it’s better at getting rid of excess humidity. When the weather cools off, the heat pump switches over to heating mode and provides especially energy efficient heating. Because it simply moves heat from one location to another rather than burning fossil fuels, it’s more environmentally friendly as well. Once the temperature drops below freezing, the system automatically switches over to the furnace.