Heat pump for retirement home
After we bought our retirement home, we knew we would need to have the furnace updated. The previous homeowner told us it did not work. With winter fast approaching, my wife and I got right on calling the furnace technicians before we even moved in. I think we were both planning on getting just a good old fashioned furnace, at first. But then the technician told us about this thing called a heat pump that saves a lot of money on the electric bill. At first, I didn’t know what a heat pump does. I thought that anything that directs heat into our house must be a heat pump, right? Well it turns out that I was technically right. The broad term for any heating system is a heat pump. However, what most people refer to as a heat pump is a bit more specific. Essentially, it is a cooling system. I know, this just gets more confusing but bear with me. So it works like a cooling system, like an air conditioner, but instead of the cold air going into the house, the cold air goes outside and the warm air, from the workings of the unit, go into the house. So it is an air conditioner but in reverse. I am sure the technician did a better job describing it than me. But a reverse air conditioner is the best way to understand what a heat pump is. Anyway, so we decided to get this heat pump installed instead of a more traditional furnace. It cost more, upfront, but it will save us a lot in the long run.