Should You Choose a Electric to Heat Your Home
What is a heat pump? First think about an aura conditioner. Exactly what does your air conditioner do? It moves heat from your house. The lack of heat is cold. Whenever your air conditioner is running, put your hand above the outside unit, the condenser, and you will feel heated air. Your ac is moving heat away from home making your home cooler. So, what is a electric? Think of an air conditioning system running backwards. A H/P has a reversing valve that allows the system to consider heated air from the outside and set it in your house. How is this possible? To put it simply, there is heat in cold air. Actually, there is heat in cold air down to "absolute zero" which is approximately "minus 460 degrees". Because there is warm air in cold air a H/P system is going to be effective until it reaches its balance point which usually occurs between 32 and 40 degrees F. The total amount point is the outdoor temperature time the H/P's output equals the requirements of the area being heated. Once the temperature remains below the "balance point" a heat pump will utilize a supplemental flame, that is usually an electrical heating element.. So if you reside in Butte, Montana in which the temperature is near to freezing or below during the cold months, a heat pump won't be effective. If you live in Plano, TX or a similar type region were temperatures can be at 50 degrees through much of the winter, they will work very efficiently.
So why is it cheaper to use a heat pump as opposed to an electrical air handler? They don't create heat, they move heat. It is cheaper to move heat than create heat. Final point here is if you are using electricity to heat your house, it can save you around 30-40% by using a electric. An additional benefit is that your home may have a healthier environment than a single heated with electric heat or a gas furnace. That's because an electric air handler or traditional gas furnace dries out the environment you breathe and may dry your skin.