4 ms·
I guess one difference between heating and cooling is that heating can be very, very efficient by just burning whatever. With cooling you're burning whatever,
by msandford 10y ago
I guess one difference between heating and cooling is that heating can be very, very efficient by just burning whatever. With cooling you're burning whatever, and then turning that into electricity at about 60% efficiency (at best) then losing some efficiency through transmission and then some more turning that electricity back into mechanical energy.
I'm not saying it's a wash by any stretch of the imagination.
- samcheng 10y agoI was surprised at how efficient a heat pump can be! Research SEER. A new A/C unit has a greater-than-300% efficiency. Heat pumps can be used for heating, too, but they're expensive and commonly involve drilling wells for geothermal loops.
- pkulak 10y agoAir source heat pumps are about as costly to operate as natural gas in mild climates (where it's generally above freezing most of the time). If you do dig up your yard and lay underground pipe, that heat pump system will cost a fraction of natural gas to operate, even in Minnesota. And that's with natural gas prices at historic lows. Heat pumps are amazing.