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HEATING

More about Electric Heat

By definition, a heat pump is a machine which moves heat. Heat exists in all air at all temperatures down to "absolute zero" (-460? F). In the winter, a heat pump draws heat from the outdoor air and circulates it through ducts into your home. During the summer, it reverses the process and draws heat from your interior air and releases it outdoors. It also dehumidifies the indoor air as it cools it.

Benefits of a Heat Pump System

• Because a heat pump does not burn fuel, it is safer and cleaner to run than a gas powered furnace.
• A heat pump provides a more uniform temperature throughout a building. It does not produce a sudden blast of hot air as traditional furnaces do each time they kick on.
• In the heat mode, heat pumps do not dry out the air the way traditional heaters do. The higher humidity maintained by heat pumps during cold weather provides for a healthier environment.
• Heat pumps are more efficient and cost less to run than electric furances.
• Because heat pumps are used year round (for cooling as well as heating needs), they cost less per hour of use (cost of purchase and installation divided by total number of hours used per year) than do individual heating and cooling systems, which each sit idle for a good part of the year.

The Heat Pump an Air Conditioner

The heat pump serves as an air conditioner by absorbing heat from indoor air and pumping it outdoors. The heat pump contains an indoor coil which, in turn, contains a very cold liquid refrigerant. As indoor air passes over the indoor coil, the refrigerant-cooled coil absorbs heat from the air and so quickly cools that air. The cooled air cannot hold as much moisture as it did at a higher temperature. The excess moisture condenses on the outside of the coil, resulting in the dehumidfication of the air. The cooled, dehumidified air is then forced (by a fan) into the duct system which, in turn, circulates it throughout the building.

At the same time, the absorption of heat by the refrigerant turns the refrigerant from a liquid into a vapor. A compressor pumps the heat laden vapor through a vapor line to an outdoor coil which discharges the heat extracted from the indoor air. As the heat is discharged, the vapor is cooled and changes back into a liquid refrigerant. The refrigerant is then pumped back through a liquid line to the indoor coil and the cycle is repeated.

In addition to serving as an air conditioner, the heat pump contains a reversal valve which reverses the flow of refrigerant and thus allows the heat pump to serve as a heater during cold weather.

The Heat Pump as a Heater

The heat pump serves as a heater by absorbing heat from outdoor air and pumping it indoors. All air, even cold winter air, contains a certain amount of heat. As the outdoor air passes over the outdoor coil , heat from that air is absorbed by the refrigerant contained inside the coil. This absorption of heat changes the refrigerant from a low-temperature liquid to a low-temperature, low-pressure vapor. The vapor then passes through a compressor where it is compressed into a high pressure, high-temperature vapor. The hot vapor then circulates into the indoor coil . As indoor air passes over the indoor coil, it absorbs heat from the coil. The warmed air is then redistributed through the duct system.

Forced Warm Air

Furnaces heat air from inside your home, and recirculate it throughout the house using a network of supply air and return air ducts. Forced air furnaces also provide the means to clean, humidify or cool the air (central air conditioning). These are the most popular heating systems sold.

FORCED WARM AIR

There are two basic ways of heating a home; radiant heat room by room, or a central heating system. Radiant in each room can be electric, wood stove, gas heater, kerosene, coal, a fireplace, etc. Central systems can be hydronic, steam or forced warm air. Hydronic and steam are detailed under hydronic elsewhere in this site.

A forced warm air system uses ductwork to distribute heated air from a source (furnace or air handler) to each room. The furnace can produce heat from any number of fuels; gas, oil, electricity, wood, or coal, or a combination of any fuels. An air handler will use a hot water coil to produce heat

Unless fresh air is piped in from outside of the home, the system will re-circulate 100% of the air it supplies. This means it must obtain air from the home by way of a return air duct or ducts. Properly installed, a warm air system becomes a loop by which air is drawn from the living space through return ducts to the furnace, heated, and sent back to the same space through supply ducts. The advantages to this type of heating system are numerous.

The air can be heated, cleaned, sterilized, humidified, or cooled (central air conditioning). If return air ducts are strategically located, the will reduce heat loss by recycling the warmest air back in to the system that collects at upper areas of the house

Supply ducts located around the outside walls of the rooms will temper the cold air as it infiltrates the home and reduce any discomfort from the air flow to a minimum.

Hydronics

In hydronic heating, boilers circulate hot water or steam through a system of baseboard heating units, radiators, or in-floor radiant tubing. Baseboard units provide a combination of radiated heat from cast iron surfaces -- like the heat you feel from the sun -- and convective heat from copper fins -- heat that rises through the air. This configuration provides the most quiet, even, and clean heat available.