4 ms·
In the abstract you are correct but in practical application, products sold as air conditioners and products sold as heat pumps are designed and sized very diff
by greenthrow 2y ago
In the abstract you are correct but in practical application, products sold as air conditioners and products sold as heat pumps are designed and sized very differently, resulting in different consumption/efficiency for the same home.
- lotsofpulp 2y agoI imagine every heat pump can cool a house, even though every “air conditioner” cannot. If you have a gas furnace to heat the house, then it might not make sense to pay extra for a heat pump that works in both directions (to heat and cool a house). So you would just buy a heat pump that works in one direction to cool the house, aka an air conditioner. But if you buy a heat pump to heat the house, you might as well have the unit be capable of running in reverse to also cool the house (since you have no other way to cool the house).
- Phrodo_00 2y agoI wouldn't really say very differently. Residential AC and Heat Pumps are available in pretty the same spec range. You can make an AC by removing/replacing some parts from a Heat pump and that's what some manufacturers do, meaning they're literally almost the same (except for the reversing valve, accumulator, outside meter and defrosting and some other small stuff)