Bluedot Living Brooklyn sat down with Chris Petri of Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning in Brooklyn to ask some of our biggest questions about heat pumps. The answers were edited lightly for clarity.
1) Everyone I know is talking about heat pumps these days. But what are they?
A heat pump is part of a home heating and cooling system and is installed outside your home. Like an air conditioner such as central air, it can cool your home, but it’s also capable of providing heat. In cooler months, a heat pump pulls heat from the cold outdoor air and transfers it indoors, and in warmer months, it pulls heat out of indoor air to cool your home. They are powered by electricity and transfer heat using refrigerant to provide comfort all year round. Because they handle both cooling and heating, homeowners may not need to install separate systems to heat their homes.
2) What makes heat pumps a sustainable option for homeowners?
Heat pumps are highly energy-efficient compared to traditional heating and cooling systems. They can deliver more heating or cooling energy than the amount of electrical energy they consume, especially when using renewable electricity sources like solar or wind power. This efficiency helps reduce overall energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
3) If my home has radiator heat, how hard is it to install a heat pump system?
Heat pump systems operate on completely different avenues from traditional steam or hydronic heating; from the piping to the utility used. For this reason, homeowners do not even have to make any alterations to their steam or hydronic system when installing a heat pump system; most of our clients actually choose to keep their original system and use both!
Any home, from a condo to a single-family townhouse, can accommodate a heat pump system when installed by a skilled HVAC home service company!
4) What do people need to know about heat pumps?
Heat pumps offer greater comfort control compared to some traditional steam and hydronic systems. Steam and hydronic systems can sometimes produce uneven heating, leading to fluctuations in indoor temperatures. Heat pumps provide consistent heating or cooling throughout your living space…with no banging pipes!
5) Are there any cons to installing a heat pump?
The only con to installing a heat pump is having to wear a jacket inside during the summer!
We have had a heat pump, both heat and ac, several year’s ago,we have hot water heat and will only use that in addition to our heat pump, when it gets down to single digits.Only regret, not getting it sooner. We have been very happy with it since day one.