How are air conditioners and heat pumps different?

Let’s start with the similarities. For cooling your home, there is essentially no difference. Both heat pumps and air conditioners cool your home by moving heat from inside your home to outside your home, with no significant difference in operation, efficiency, or energy costs.

Now for the differences. Air conditioners cannot provide heating, but Heat pumps do. In the winter, a heat pump is able to “operate in reverse”, and absorb heat energy from outside air, even in extremely cold temperatures, and transfer the heat in to the home for heating. As a result, an air conditioner will typically need to be paired with a furnace for heating, while a heat pump can provide both as a single system.

Which is better for me?

The answer will depend on your particular situation. If you are looking for a whole-home cooling solution and want to compare air conditioners and heat pumps, here are a few items to guide the decision-making process.

In general, a heat pump is a couple of thousand dollars more expensive than an air conditioner to install.

If you currently have an electric, oil, or propane furnace, we definitely recommend a heat pump. This is because the heat pump’s low running costs for heating alone will make an extremely compelling economic case, and you will get the added benefit of air conditioning. You can read more here.

If you have a gas furnace, the economic case will be more nuanced, but the heat pump’s heating efficiency will generally make up for the additional upfront cost over the equipment’s lifetime, The advantages of a heat pump would be the flexibility to deal with future natural gas price volatility by diversifying your energy consumption and reducing your environmental footprint. You can read more here.

Keep in mind that a heat pump doesn’t mean you need to replace your existing furnace. If your furnace is less than 10 years old and the system is compatible, consider keeping your existing furnace and adding a heat pump for a hybrid system. This will prolong the life of your current furnace and give you the benefits of a heat pump system!

What if I want cooling for part of the house?

Ductless mini-splits are great, highly efficient options if you are looking for cooling in just part of your home. Since ductless mini-splits are heat pumps, they double as heaters in the winter as well.

A ductless mini-split is comprised of two main components: an outdoor unit (compressor) and an indoor air-handling unit (evaporator). A roughly three-inch conduit connects the indoor and outdoor unit with communication cables, copper tubing, and a condensation drain line.

Mini-split heat pump systems are often best suited to homes that have traditional ductless heating systems such as electric baseboard or in-floor heating, that’s because they allow you to circumvent retrofitting your house to accommodate a central ducted system.

They can also be a good choice for room additions and small apartments, where extending or installing distribution ductwork for a central system is not feasible. However, they can also be strategically placed to heat and cool where it is most cost-effective, or provide a complete home heating solution.

Ductless mini-splits require minimal construction as only a three-inch hole through the wall is required to connect the outdoor condenser and the indoor heads. The indoor heads come in many styles and sizes.