Heating systemHeat pumps are the devices that “pump” the heat from areas with low temperature, and transfer it to home heating system, in which the temperature gets higher.
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What are heat pumps?
Heat pumps are the devices that “pump” the heat from areas with low temperature, and transfer it to home heating system, in which the temperature gets higher. The pump increases the temperature of heat, and enables it to be used for providing heat or hot water to the house. The heat pump provides more heat than utilizes electricity, and that is why it is very cheap in exploitation.
Depending on where the heat is coming from, we can distinguish such types of pumps as water, air or ground-source. All the three sources that heat pumps use are renewable and free.
Heat pumps are one of the most ecological, cost-effective and efficient systems for heating our house. They extract the thermal energy from “free” sources, such as earth, water or air, providing heat to buildings and hot water to houses and swimming pools. Due to the use of renewable energy sources, heat pumps allow homeowners to reduce the costs for heating. Energy collected from the earth, water or air does not cost anything, and additionally enables us to save space, because we do not need store fuel, such as coal or liquid gas. These devices do not pollute the environment, and use very little external power, electricity to work, which makes it possible to save on utility bills. According to experts and manufacturers, heat pumps pick up about 75% of thermal energy from water, air or ground, and need as little as 25% of electricity to operate. There is also no need to have a chimney, which allows to save even more. What is more, the pumps not only heat our house, but they can also act as air-conditioning or ventilation devices. They live 15 years on average, and during this time we only need to arrange some regular, periodical check-ups of the device. They run automatically and are maintenance-free.
The heat pump is often considered an alternative to electric heating. It is a lot cheaper in exploitation, because when a heat pump uses one electricity unit, it provides the building with 2-5 units. It is advisable to consider purchasing a heat pump in a house where there is no possibility to connect to a gas pipe.
A heat pump is very easy to install in any type of the building, and there is no need to connect the pump to any chimney. It considerably reduces the cost of building the house, because the construction of the chimney requires more firm foundations and the chimney has to go through the roof. Therefore, we can save on materials and professionals’ work. Houses with heat pumps do not also require a separate boiler room.
Of course, there are certain drawbacks associated with the installation of heat pumps. The most significant one is the cost, about 40,000-70,000 PLN, but we can count on the return on investment in the form of lower costs of electricity. The pumps are also dependent on electricity, and the less heat they can collect from outside or the less insulated the house is, the more electricity the pump will need to operate. Therefore, it is very important to select an appropriate pump for our house. We have to take into account the size of the building and its insulation, and choose the pump, whose size will be big enough to heat the whole house.
Heat pumps do not take up much space, and there is no need to have additional space for storage, but in case of geothermal pumps, they take quite a lot of area under the ground. Fortunately, on the area under which the pump is situated we can still grow some flowers, fruit, vegetables or grass, but it is impossible to have e.g. a small pond there.
In the case of air-source heat pump, a significant drawback may be the noise emitted by an external unit. However, the manufacturers and designers of these installations work on that and constantly try to improve it.
The water and geothermal heat pumps are more efficient and ensure lower utility bills than air-source pumps. However, their installation is more costly and in the case of water, there has to be a water reservoir nearby, and not all plots meet this requirement. Therefore, the choice of the heat pump largely depends on the budget of the investor and the location of the plot of land.
Depending on where the heat is coming from, we can distinguish such types of pumps as water, air or ground-source. All the three sources that heat pumps use are renewable and free.
Heat pumps are one of the most ecological, cost-effective and efficient systems for heating our house. They extract the thermal energy from “free” sources, such as earth, water or air, providing heat to buildings and hot water to houses and swimming pools. Due to the use of renewable energy sources, heat pumps allow homeowners to reduce the costs for heating. Energy collected from the earth, water or air does not cost anything, and additionally enables us to save space, because we do not need store fuel, such as coal or liquid gas. These devices do not pollute the environment, and use very little external power, electricity to work, which makes it possible to save on utility bills. According to experts and manufacturers, heat pumps pick up about 75% of thermal energy from water, air or ground, and need as little as 25% of electricity to operate. There is also no need to have a chimney, which allows to save even more. What is more, the pumps not only heat our house, but they can also act as air-conditioning or ventilation devices. They live 15 years on average, and during this time we only need to arrange some regular, periodical check-ups of the device. They run automatically and are maintenance-free.
The heat pump is often considered an alternative to electric heating. It is a lot cheaper in exploitation, because when a heat pump uses one electricity unit, it provides the building with 2-5 units. It is advisable to consider purchasing a heat pump in a house where there is no possibility to connect to a gas pipe.
A heat pump is very easy to install in any type of the building, and there is no need to connect the pump to any chimney. It considerably reduces the cost of building the house, because the construction of the chimney requires more firm foundations and the chimney has to go through the roof. Therefore, we can save on materials and professionals’ work. Houses with heat pumps do not also require a separate boiler room.
Of course, there are certain drawbacks associated with the installation of heat pumps. The most significant one is the cost, about 40,000-70,000 PLN, but we can count on the return on investment in the form of lower costs of electricity. The pumps are also dependent on electricity, and the less heat they can collect from outside or the less insulated the house is, the more electricity the pump will need to operate. Therefore, it is very important to select an appropriate pump for our house. We have to take into account the size of the building and its insulation, and choose the pump, whose size will be big enough to heat the whole house.
Heat pumps do not take up much space, and there is no need to have additional space for storage, but in case of geothermal pumps, they take quite a lot of area under the ground. Fortunately, on the area under which the pump is situated we can still grow some flowers, fruit, vegetables or grass, but it is impossible to have e.g. a small pond there.
In the case of air-source heat pump, a significant drawback may be the noise emitted by an external unit. However, the manufacturers and designers of these installations work on that and constantly try to improve it.
The water and geothermal heat pumps are more efficient and ensure lower utility bills than air-source pumps. However, their installation is more costly and in the case of water, there has to be a water reservoir nearby, and not all plots meet this requirement. Therefore, the choice of the heat pump largely depends on the budget of the investor and the location of the plot of land.