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What is a Heat Pump?
A Heat Pump is a home appliance similar to a fridge or freezer that heats and cools the atmosphere in your home. It heats, cools, dehumidifies and continuously filters the air of dust and other impurities. It also can circulate the air - without heating or cooling to eliminate stuffiness as well. Typical Heat Pumps have two parts to them, an indoor unit and an outdoor unit and for this reason are often called a Split System. Like many of your home appliances a Heat Pump is operated using a remote control.
How does a Heat Pump work?
Use an old-style bicycle pump for a while and it will get hot. That's because gas (air) is being compressed. Spray an aerosol can and the valve area will become cold. That's because the compressed gas in the aerosol can is expanding.
Heat Pumps (like refrigerators) have a system of pipes containing gas (refrigerant) that is continuously expanding in one part of the system while compressing in another. When the gas is being compressed, it gets hot. A Heat Pump's exterior unit compresses the gas, and then pumps it to the interior unit where the gas runs over a series of finned coils, giving off the heat.
The gas is then returned to the outside unit, where it expands and runs through another set of finned coils, which become cold. The cold gas is then recompressed and so the cycle continues. For summer cooling, the refrigerant flow is reversed, so the interior unit becomes cool, while the exterior hot.
Heat Pumps shift more heat than the electrical energy consumed in compressing the refrigerant and running the fans, making them highly-efficient methods of heating - up to three to four times as much in the right conditions.
Heat Pumps are basically space heaters. The simplest versions are designed for a single room; the most complex, for a whole house. It takes 20 to 40 minutes to bring a room up to temperature, after which the level will be maintained within one or two degrees.
Do I have to clean the filters on my Heat Pump?
You should clean the filters on your Heat Pump every 2-4 weeks depending on how dusty your house is. This can be done with a vacuum cleaner.
What size will I need for my home?
Every home is as individual as its owner. The key to selecting the right Heat Pump for your home is accurate estimation of the heat that will need to be transferred into your home in winter for heating and out of your home in summer for cooling. This needs to be carried out by experienced and qualified specialists such as HomeTech’s Licensed Installers. A Heat Pump will roughly cover 10 square meters of area per kW of output. There is a calculator on the Consumer magazine website which is able to work out a more exact kW needed for a specific area. This takes into account floor area, interior and exterior wall area, insulation and window area.
What factors will affect the size of Heat Pump I need?
The amount of heating needed will depend on the heat your home loses through walls, windows, and roofs. To minimize this loss, good insulation is recommended.
Do Heat Pumps take up a lot or room?
No. HomeTech’s Heat pumps are designed to be unobtrusive in their size, are neutrally coloured to fit into your décor. They run at a low noise levels so as not to be noticed.
How much will it cost to buy & install a Heat Pump?
Because each home is unique, the installed cost of a Heat Pump is different for each home and will depend on the size and type of Heat Pump required. For example an average 3 bedroom 100sqm New Zealand home may use a 7kW system to heat the lounge, dining and kitchen areas. An in home Healthy Home Evaluation is recommended to determine costs.
How much does it cost to run a Heat Pump?
The easiest way to work this out is think about how a heat pump works.
The operating current for a heat pump in heating mode is between 540w and 2040w for a 5kW unit, for a 7kW unit it is between 1000w and 2450w. This is the range of current drawn by the unit to provide the minimum amount of heating to the maximum amount of heating. Inverter Heat pumps work their hardest to bring a room to the desired temperature then ramp down to there lowest running capacity when the room is at temperature, This would normally take about an hour.
For a 5kW heat pump this means running at a 2kW power draw for an hour then ramping down to about half a kW per hour after that, this assumes that the room does not loose an excessive amount of heat per hour. If a room is well insulated it should only require the heat pump to run at full current draw twice a day.
How can a Heat Pump be cheaper to run with more moving parts?
A heat pump uses electricity to "transfer" heat. Unlike electric heaters that "convert" electric energy to heating energy which limits the amount of electricity they can use. A Heat Pump has no such limitations. It can transfer three to four times the heat from the compression of gas than could be converted from the electricity it uses. A conversion type heater is only about 95-98% efficient whilst a HomeTech Heat Pump is up to 370% efficient.
Are Heat Pumps noisy?
No. Heat Pumps are generally not noisy. The source of noise in a heat pump is usually the air being blown through the grill as it is forced out of the unit. Air noise is marginally higher than ambient background noise and is usually not distracting.
Are they reliable?
Yes. Heat pumps are reliable. They use the same process as a home fridge or freezer and have the same level of dependability and life expectancy.
Do they need servicing?
Like a car, Heat Pumps should be serviced regularly for optimum performance. This involves cleaning the air filter and perhaps checking that the refrigeration charge is correct. It is also good to service the Heat Pump before each extreme season i.e. before winter and summer. Call HomeTech for servicing needs.
How are Heat Pumps better than other forms of heating?
Apart from being cheaper to run than any other form of heating, Heat Pumps offer many more benefits than any other heating systems. Heat Pumps do not burn oxygen or create stuffiness like open fires. They are designed for year round comfort not just the 4 months of winter. Heat Pumps produce low density heat which is safe for children and the elderly, unlike fires or electric heaters. They are unmatched for convenience for ease of use (Remote Controlled). They don't pollute our atmosphere like combustion heating sources and HomeTech Heat Pumps use ozone friendly refrigerants. They also filter the air in your home with their filtration systems.
Heat Pumps are three units in one. They will heat, cool and de-humidify.
What is an Energy Star Rating and what is the star rating for the HomeTech Heat Pumps?
An Energy Star Rating is a rating given to electrical appliances by the EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority). This rating is provided as guide for consumers when choosing and comparing products as to there efficiency relating to power consumption. All Heat Pumps that are sold in New Zealand are required to have a star rating and must meet a Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS). All Heat Pumps have two star ratings, one for heating and one for cooling. HomeTech Heat Pumps meet and exceed this requirement and the star ratings are as follows.
HP 5: Heating 4.5 Stars
Cooling 4.5 Stars
HP 7: Heating 5.0 Stars
Cooling 4.5 Stars
What is the MEPS for New Zealand and how is the Star Rating calculated?
The MEPS (Minimum Energy Performance Standard) for New Zealand is a COP (Coefficient of Performance) (Heating) and EER (Energy Efficiency Rating) (Cooling) of 2.3. All appliances that reach this level are awarded 2 stars. For every .3 increase in either the COP or EER the appliance receives another star.
What do I do if the Heat Pump wont turn on in cooling mode?
Push the small button marked auto/cool located under the cover plate for the wiring on the indoor unit. This is a manual switch that can be used if the remote is lost or not working. The button may have been pushed once by mistake to put the unit into auto mode and by pushing it again it will switch over into cooling, you can also turn the unit off and on again and then push the button if it does not work the first time.
My Heat Pump is making a funny noise?
In the colder months, your Heat Pump will make some noise. It may also stop working for a few minutes. This is when it goes into the de-icing mode. It is a normal thing and part of the Heat Pump’s built in protection system. A Heat Pump is a very sophisticated thing. You should let the Heat Pump run it's course.
My Heat Pump is blowing cold air?
If your Heat Pump appears to under perform - the first thing to try is cleaning the filters with your vacuum cleaner. These need to be cleaned once a fortnight. Simply by cleaning the filters can make a huge difference. |
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