What is a wall-mounted heat pump?
Do you need to choose a new heating system? In this case, keep in mind that wall-mounted heat pumps have many economic and energy advantages. Effective in summer and winter, they ensure your comfort and that of your family members, with the greatest respect for the environment. A heat pump is nothing more than an air conditioner capable of reversing its cooling cycle to produce heat. During very cold periods, it absorbs heat from the outside air and transfers it inside. It may seem improbable, but in fact, it is really effective!
How does it work?
A heat pump is an electrical device that heats and cools your home.
In winter, the heat pump captures the outside heat to introduce it into your home. In heating mode, the heat pump transports a gaseous refrigerant to the outside. It absorbs the heat remaining in the outside air, then makes its way back inside. The vapor is then compressed, causing its temperature to rise. A fan transfers this heat to the air in the rooms you want to heat. As Natural Resources Canada explains, the ground and outdoor air always contain a certain amount of heat that the heat pump can capture at temperatures as low as -15°C.
Manufacturers have greatly improved the ability of heat pumps to extract heat from cold air with minimal electricity consumption. To know the performance of a device, we can base ourselves on its SEER index . In general, a typical heat pump has an SEER of 12, which allows it to be used down to -12°C. Devices with advanced features have an SEER of 18, making them effective down to -15°C.
In summer, the operation is reversed. The heat pump captures the cold outside the house and sends it inside, then acting as air conditioning. Specifically, there are different types of air conditioning units, however, they all work the same way. All air conditioning systems have a compressor, this is used to compress the refrigerant to change its form to the state of « vapor », this is called « hot gas ».
The refrigerant vapor is then cooled by a device called a “condenser”. The function of the condenser is to extract the heat which is in the gas and then to transform it into liquid (all refrigerants have different boiling points). This liquid then turns into gas, a phenomenon called “evaporation”. When the gas evaporates, it generates cold in the air conditioning battery. This coolness is ultimately sucked in by the air conditioning fan to cool your home.
Today, residential air conditioners are much more protected than ever, equipped with thermal sensors and electronic probes to find compressor and refrigerant temperature issues. However, it is essential that air conditioning equipment is installed and maintained by certified professionals.