HEAT PUMPS

What is a Heat Pump?
In a total electric unit, the heat pump is your heating and cooling system.  A heat pump does exactly what its name implies.  In the summer, it operates as a standard air conditioner, with refrigerant absorbing heat from the air in your home and the compressor pumping the heat outside.  The blower then moves the cooled air through your household duct system.  In the winter, this process is reversed.  The refrigerant absorbs heat from the outside air.  The compressor pumps the heated refrigerant to the inside, where household air is heated and distributed throughout the home.

Heat pumps differ from conventional heating systems.  They expel a constant flow of warm air instead of short, hot blasts of air.  It's normal for the air coming from the supply vents to feel cooler than the air for the conventional gas furnace.

Auxiliary and Emergency Heat and Associated Costs
A heat pump works efficiently until the outside temperature drops to approximately 35 degrees Fahrenheit or below.  At that point, a heat pump has to rely on auxiliary heating to meet the demand in the home.  The auxiliary heat is in the form of heat strips located inside the air handler in your home.  On average, a two bedroom apartment or manufactured home use heat pumps that generally cost $.20 - $.35 per hour while in standard operation.  However, when the auxiliary heat is activated, the cost can escalate to $.90 - $1.10 per hour range.  You can also cause the auxiliary heat to come on by moving the thermostat by more than 2 - 3 degrees at a time.