A GSHP system can provide moderate to high temperature hot water at no cost for domestic use in the summer and substantial savings in the winter.
A heat pump is a system that acts like an AC in summers and circulates warm air from outside in winters. It circulates air from one location to the other and therefore saves the effort of setting up two different systems: AC and Furnace.
A heat pump uses freon for heat transfer. Use of freon 4601A gives better heat efficiency and it does not contribute to global warming.
Installing a heat pump would also earn you tax credit up to 30 percent, through federal tax credits for efficient energy systems.
The cost of a heat pump varies based on specifications, but in each case, it will give you value for the money through the savings generated. There are two major variants of heat pumps:
1. Air Source type - it moves the heat between indoors and outdoors.
2. Geo-thermal type - it captures and moves the heat between the indoors at a temperature just below the earth's temperature.
The cost of installing an Air Source type heat pump varies based on the specifications of the residence. The installation would need a small hole in wall or window unit, which can cool or heat rooms. The cost would increase if you want to do installation for your complete house. The cost of a heat pump would depend on your requirements and the kind of installation needed. Also for a moderate climate, there are options of installing a duel fuel air source pump - this type of pump can be run by natural gas or propane furnace under a single control system. Heat pumps also can run using electricity or gas, but using gas would give you some savings over electricity.
Geo-thermal heat pumps have higher efficiency because it uses geothermal or ground source or water source for maintaining the temperature. For a complete installation, cost of this kind of a device would depend on length and depth of the underground pipes, soil conditions, and other excavation and installation factors. There are expensive systems that can have hot water heaters.
Geo-thermal systems cost more to install but they have lower operating costs because they take advantage of relatively constant ground or water temperatures. They can be used in more extreme climatic conditions than air-source heat pumps.
Heat pumps can have two different types of thermostats:
1. Electronic - it can be programmed to give you different temperatures at different times.
2. Electro-mechanical - it has to be set from time to time to get the desired temperature.
Therefore, before installation, you need to get the existing wiring checked because they have to be appropriate for installing the device. When you are spending so much on your air conditioning requirements, you should care about its maintenance, which would give you long life of the equipment.
The installation of a heat pump system can often be completed within a few days, and with Federal Grants available today for energy efficient systems, Heat Pumps are one of the best ways to save on energy costs
