Ductless Mini-Splits Can Get Nasty Inside
Have you ever used a flashlight to look up into the part of a ductless mini-split where the air blows out? I should have done that a lot sooner than I did. It turns out these heat pumps can get…
heat pump
Will a Heat Pump Work With Your Existing Ducts?
OK, you're thinking of replacing that old furnace in your home with a new heat pump. But you have doubts. You've heard that heat pumps don't heat as well as furnaces. (Wrong.) Or that they'll jack up your electricity bills…
The Achilles’ Heel of Heat Pumps
Air source heat pumps are a great way to keep a home comfortable. On the cooling side, they're exactly the same as an air conditioner. In heating mode, though, they have a limitation that other types of heating equipment don't…
What Happens to the Frost on My Heat Pump?
This is the fifth winter since I've been heating my house with a Mitsubishi* heat pump. And finally I got to see something I've missed every time it happened until last week. Yep. I'm talking about seeing frost on the…
How a Heat Pump Gets Heat From Cold Air, Part 2
Everyone's talking about heat pumps. These machines for heating buildings can exchange heat with the outdoors in multiple ways, of course. Ground-coupled heat pumps pull heat out of the ground or water and send it to heat the building. But…
Heat Pump Basics
Whether you're thinking of getting a heat pump or you already have one, knowing these heat pump basics can help you get the right heat pump and operate it properly. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) here in the US has…
The Plug-in Heat Pump Water Heater Is Here!
The 120-volt plug-in heat pump water heater is here! The effort to bring these things to market began in 2018, and now they're available to buy. This technology has some significant advantages over the standard 240-volt heat pump water heater. …
Preparing an Old Home for Electrification, Part 2
The electrification movement is accelerating, so let's go back to this topic again and look at how to electrify an older house. In part 1 of this series, I listed some important questions to ask. Today, I'll cover some steps…
The Easy Way to Switch to a Heat Pump
With the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) rebates and other energy efficiency incentives out there now, it's a great time to start using a heat pump to heat your home. If you're currently heating with a furnace and have an air…
Open-Loop vs. Closed-Loop Ground Source Heat Pumps
I mainly talk about air source heat pumps here. But ground-source heat pumps are an important type of heat pump, too. So today, let's look at the issue of open-loop vs. closed-loop design when installing this type of heat…