Split System Heat Pump

A Split System Heat Pump is an air source heat pump that has an indoor air-handling unit and heat exchanger which is separate from the outdoor compressor and exchanger.

There is another type called a packaged heat pump which is a self-contained unit that allows the compressor and both heat exchangers to be on the outside. This type unit uses ductwork to transfer the heating and cooling to the interior of your home. Packaged heat pumps come in different types of units, packaged terminal self-contained through-the-wall, and window heat pumps are used for single rooms and don’t need ductwork.

The development actually started in 1915 with Willis “Bill” H. Carrier an engineer in the United States. He developed a refrigeration system that consists of a compressor and two coils made of copper tubing, one indoors and one outdoors. In the cooling mode, the heat pump evaporates a refrigerant in the indoor coil and as the liquid evaporates it absorbs heat from the air in the house. The gas is compressed and it passes into the outdoor coil and condenses, releasing heat to the outside air. In heating mode this process is merely reversed.

During extreme cold weather an air-source heat pump may not generally be cost effective over extended periods of sub-freezing temperatures. When the outside temperature drops below 40 degrees either a heat strip or gas burner is needed to boost and help maintain a comfortable temperature indoors. Heat strips are a control electrical short and certainly not your most efficient use of energy.

Heat pumps can provide efficient heating and cooling delivering one-and-a-half to three times more heat energy than the electrical energy they consumes.