Heat pumps work by moving heat from a colder area to a warmer area with an external energy input. They don't generate heat directly, but rather transfer it from one place to another efficiently.
- Heat Absorption: in the hotter environment, a refrigerant fluid absorbs heat from the environment (even cold air or the ground has some heat).
As the refrigerant absorbs heat, it evaporates and becomes a gas (increasing volume). - Compression: The refrigerant gas is then compressed later, further raising its temperature and pressure. This process requires an external energy input, usually electricity.
- Heat Release: The high-pressure, high-temperature gas is then pumped into the indoor unit, where it releases the absorbed heat to the environment desired to be heated.
The refrigerant steadily cools down and returns to a liquid state. - Cycle Repeats: The cooled refrigerant is cycled back to the hotter environment to absorb more heat, and the process continues.
- For a heat pump to work effectively, there needs to be a temperature difference between the heat source and the desired output temperature. Most heat pumps have a minimum operating temperature, typically around -15°F (-26°C) for cold climate models
