Think back to your last dinner party with your “cool” friends — were you embarrassed because you didn’t know enough about heat pumps? The answer depends on the type of crowd you hang around with! We won’t judge...
But really, if you are researching heat pumps or rely on a heat pump for year-round home comfort, you may have some questions. Here are ten questions that often come up:
1. How do I know if I have a heat pump or an air conditioner?
Are you ready to do some simple detective work? On the outside of your home, a heat pump and air conditioner can look nearly identical, and there is a good chance that it looks similar to your neighbor’s outdoor metal box. Although a heat pump provides both heating and cooling to your home, there is a simple way to determine if you have a heat pump by testing the unit in heating mode.
From your thermostat or control system, turn the “heat” ON. Once you feel the heat coming from your return vent, head outside to observe that metal cabinet. If it is operating and you don’t pay a gas or propane bill, you most likely have a heat pump! Case closed!
2. When do I need to schedule maintenance for my heat pump?
Since your heat pump is designed to heat and cool your home, it may be operating year-round. Depending on your climate, it’s a good idea to schedule a cooling checkup in the spring and a heating maintenance service call in the fall. Many dealers offer pre-season specials on inspection packages during their typical slow times of the year.
Seasonal preventive maintenance on your heating and cooling system may guard against many unexpected failures and could maximize the lifecycle of your heating or cooling unit.1 So, if you have determined that you have a heat pump (see #1), be sure to schedule pre-season maintenance.
3. Is a heat pump better than an air conditioner?
Both a heat pump and an air conditioner are designed to cool your home using the refrigeration cycle. To determine if one provides improved performance over another, you have to compare the particular size, cooling features and efficiency ratings.
But if your home needs a heat source, a heat pump can pull double duty — cooling and heating your home year-round. Your air conditioner is designed just to keep your home cool!
4. Why isn’t my heat pump keeping me comfortable?
When installed, heat pumps are sized for your home according to specific calculations. If a heat pump is a wrong size, it may not keep you comfortable in your home. Oversized units may create bursts of warm or cold air, tricking thermostats or control systems into shutting off the system before the entire house reaches the desired temperature. An undersized heat pump may not be able to generate the cooling capacity required for your space.
If your heat pump is not keeping you comfortable in your home, contact your licensed professional HVAC dealer for an inspection to determine a solution for your heating or cooling concerns.
5. What is the lifespan of a heat pump?
It’s tough to determine the actual lifespan of a heat pump because there are many factors that contribute to its overall performance — maintenance schedule, filters changes and proper installation are just a few. Location and operational hours may also impact the longevity of a heat pump. For example, if you live in an area with long, cold winters, a heat pump will run more than in temperate climates. The same goes for warmer climates.
If you are looking for peace-of-mind, be sure your installation technician provides a limited warranty for their work and is qualified, experienced and recommended by a trusted source. Additionally, research the manufacturer’s available limited warranties, registration requirements and coverages for your specific heat pump.
6. If the temperature falls below freezing, should I manually turn ON my thermostat’s emergency or auxiliary heat switch?
As long as you are comfortable in your home, there is no need to manually switch on your heat pump’s auxiliary or emergency heat switch on your thermostat or control system. The auxiliary heat will kick on if the heat pump needs additional heating capacity to meet your set temperature. If you find that you continually need additional warmth in your home, contact your local, licensed professional HVAC dealer for a consultation.
7. Do I have to cover my heat pump in the winter?
No, do not cover your heat pump in winter! To function properly, a heat pump needs to pull in the outdoor air through the side vents and exhaust through the top of the unit. If you cover your heat pump, it may not operate as designed and may cause damage to the system.
8. Is it normal for my heat pump to have frost on it?
When it’s cold outside, the outside of your heat pump may become develop a coating of frost or light ice. Don’t be alarmed! When this happens, the defrost control senses it and automatically starts a defrost cycle. During this period the auxiliary heat strips are automatically activated to warm the indoor air.
However, if you notice a heavy coating of ice, contact your licensed professional HVAC dealer as soon as possible. Heavy ice accumulation may indicate that your heat pump needs servicing.
9. What’s the difference between SEER and HSPF on a heat pump?
SEER and HSPF are the efficiency ratings assigned to a heat pump. The SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) measures the efficiency of a heat pump in cooling mode. HSPF (Heating Season Performance Factor) measures the efficiency of a heat pump in heating mode. The higher the SEER and HSPF number, the more efficient the unit is designed to be in heating and cooling mode.
10. Why are some rooms colder or warmer than others?
Your HVAC dealer should have properly sized your heat pump for your specific home during installation. If your heat pump is not sized correctly, it may not be able to generate the capacity required for your space or shut off before the entire house reaches the desired temperature.
But if your heat pump is sized properly, your home may have a duct issue. A poorly designed duct system may results in poor airflow, leaving some rooms colder or warmer than others. If your ducts aren’t sealed properly, or an air leak goes undetected, airflow may pass through your system unevenly. To properly determine the specific cause of a warm or cold room, contact your licensed professional HVAC dealer.
1 Maintaining your Air Conditioner. n.d. https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/maintaining-your-air-conditioner.
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Whatever size system you install, your heat pump is bound to use electricity at times when your solar panels aren’t generating. You’ll need to use electricity from the grid to keep you warm during these times.
However, it may be possible to fit a solar panel system that generates as much electricity in a year as the heat pump uses. That way, your total generation matches your demand. This would depend on:
The heat pump will often run at times when there’s little or no solar energy to use. This means you’ll be:
If you add a battery storage system you can store surplus electricity during the day to run the heat pump in the evening. This will save you money because you usually get paid less for exporting electricity than you’d have to pay to import it from the grid.
However, you can’t store excess from the summer to run the heating in the winter. So, you’ll always be using the grid to balance the energy you generate and the energy you use.
The average size of a domestic solar panel system in the UK is about 3.5 kilowatt peak output (kWp). This should generate enough during the year to balance a heat pump’s requirements in a typical home. But every home is different and yours may have higher or lower heating requirements than this.
Heat pumps use electricity. So, if you’re replacing a gas or oil boiler with a heat pump, your electricity costs will increase significantly. At the same time, your gas or oil costs will reduce significantly. Therefore, it’s important that you’re on a relatively inexpensive electricity tariff.
If you’re replacing a gas boiler, you should also consider removing other gas appliances. This means you can remove gas altogether from your home and don’t have to pay the standing charge for gas.
If you’re replacing electric heating with a heat pump, your electricity costs should go down considerably. If you still have an Economy 7 meter, contact your energy supplier about switching to a standard rate meter. Economy 7 meters don’t work well with heat pumps as heat pumps often run throughout the day during the more expensive peak rate.
Some electricity suppliers offer reduced rates if you have a heat pump as well as deals on the heat pump installation. So, check if you’re eligible and whether its worth switching energy tariffs.
It’s worth looking at a time of use tariff when getting a heat pump. This type of tariff offers you cheaper electricity prices when demand and energy prices are at their lowest. So, you may be able to set the water heating programme, and maybe even the space heating, to make the most of the cheaper electricity.
Bear in mind that time of use tariffs charge more than standard tariffs at some times of day, so you could still be better off on a standard tariff. The main exception to this is if you have battery storage to help you manage when you take electricity from the grid.
Heat pumps are more efficient when running at a lower temperature. They also usually store water at a lower temperature than you may be used to. This is fine because we generally need to mix our hot water with some cold to avoid scalding. Just remember that you may not need to do this anymore once you get a heat pump.
The tank will also need to be slightly bigger than you’d use with a gas boiler – you’ll need more hot water to fill a bath or run a shower if you’re not mixing it with as much cold water. Your installer should make sure the cylinder is the right size when fitting your system and should also make sure your hot water pipes are suitably insulated.
There are a few other things you can do to make sure you heat your water in a way that’s cost-effective:
Your hot water system will include a sterilisation cycle that periodically heats the cylinder to above 60°C to prevent bacterial growth. Make sure this programme runs at the cheapest time of day, just like your regular water heating programme.
You shouldn’t have to do anything -the system should be set to vary the flow temperature according to the season. This makes sure it’s hot enough to heat your home during colder weather, but cooler during warm spells to make the system more efficient. This is called weather compensation.
Your installer should set this up for you, but you may have the option to adjust the weather compensation settings. You might even be able to override the system altogether. You shouldn’t make any changes to these settings unless you know what you’re doing. Your installer should be happy to help you if you think the system isn’t running well enough to meet your needs.
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If you have realistic options for improving your home insulation, it’s worth seeing if you can do this before or alongside your heat pump installation. There’s financial support available to help fund this, including the Great British Insulation Scheme.
Whether you’re able to upgrade your insulation or not, your heat pump installer will design a system to match your expected heating needs.
If your home’s insulation is poor and your heating demand is high, you likely need bigger radiators throughout the property. You might even need an extra one here and there. This is how heat pumps manage to heat poorly insulated buildings without having to work harder than they need to. If your installer offers to upgrade your radiators and you want to avoid any nasty fuel bill surprises, you should say yes.
The same tips apply here as with any heat pump. But with poorly insulated homes, they’re even more important:
Heat pumps come with a programmer and thermostat to control your heating, plus a lot of other options for controlling the heat pump itself. Your installer should set everything up for you, after asking you about your heating preferences.
Some heat pump settings are best left alone unless you know what you’re doing. But you can still adjust the programmer and thermostat to meet your heating and hot water needs. They do the same job as the controls for a gas boiler. But they probably look and feel different to what you’re used to, so make sure the installer explains how they work.
Provided the installer has set them up right, you shouldn’t need to make any changes to your heat pump’s controls. Many of the controls are there to make sure the system can adjust itself to meet changing conditions, so you don’t have to adjust yourself.
If you’re not sure, ask your installer to check them and discuss any issues you may be having with how the system is running.
Historically we’ve seen issues with poor quality installations in UK homes, including where installers don’t:
As standards have tightened, equipment has improved, and the supply chain has matured these issues are much less common.
However, it’s always worth checking the pipework insulation to see if anything has been missed or has settled over time.
Once your system is installed correctly, you’re not likely to see much in the way of equipment failure. In fact, the heat pump itself is likely to last 20 years or more – that’s longer than the average gas or oil boiler.
Any issues you meet with performance are most likely to come from the way the system is set up and how you use it. If you try to run your heat pump as though it were a gas boiler rather than following manufacturer’s instructions, you may experience poor performance. This will likely lead to:
Electricity costs around four times as much as gas. A typical new gas boiler will run at around 85% efficiency, and an older boiler that’s due for replacement will average more like 75% efficiency.
But heat pumps tend to run with a seasonal performance factor (SPF) of 3.1. This makes them around four times as efficient as a gas boiler, maybe slightly more. This is why the two systems can have similar running costs at current prices.
However, a good quality heat pump installation that you manage well and control appropriately can get an SPF significantly higher than 3.1, sometimes more than 4. If this is possible you should be able to save money compared to even the most efficient gas heating system.
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