Heat Pump Functionality
AUTUMN SPECIALS
How does a Heat Pump work?
Home Smart will visit your home or business free of charge to establish your requirements and provide solutions for heating, cooling, ventilation, solar water heating and electrical needs.
Please feel free to call into our showroom, located at 250B Annex Road, Christchurch, and talk to our friendly team who can offer you products and solutions for all of your energy requirements. Our team is backed by our trade based staff who install and service the products we sell.
A Heat Pump functions in a similar way to a refrigerator. A refrigerator shifts heat from inside the fridge to the outside, ensuring the inside is cold. A Heat Pump uses this same principle in reverse, heat is transferred from outside air to the air inside the house.
The air outside is heated up by the sun's energy; even on an overcast day, or during winter, there is still solar energy available.
Choosing the right sized Heat Pump
As Heat Pumps do not use electrical energy in a conventional way to produce heat they are extremely efficient. The heat is absorbed from the air and transferred by an eco-friendly refridgerant to the indoor unit, this gives you up to 3 times the energy output to heat your home.
This means for every 1 Kilowatt of power used by the heat pump to run you are given 3 Kilowatts of heat output. It is vital to choose the correct sized heat pump in order to receive optimal benefits. The wrong size heat pump will increase your power costs unnecessarily.
Home Smart offers you a free in home consultation and quote before any system is purchased. Installation and building characteristics are important factors that need to be considered. For example, older style homes tend to lose heat a lot quicker than modern well insulated homes. In these situations a larger heat pump is needed to overcome this heat loss.
Outdoor conditions too play a large role in the type of heat pump required. Due to the functionality of a Heat Pump, when the outdoor temperature cools, the output capacity of the Heat Pumps also drops. For this reason, areas in New Zealand which experience dramatically cooler temperatures, require a larger capacity Heat Pump.
At Home Smart we will measure your home for the correct sized unit to meet your heating requirements, taking into account the climate in your area.
Using your Heat Pump smartly
Like any heating appliance, Heat Pumps give the best energy savings when used smartly.
- We recommend during the coldest part of the winter to run the heat pump 24 hours a day and turn it down when the home is unoccupied during the day or at night, prior to sleeping.
- Ensure all doors are shut in the room you are heating initially and as the room reaches the required temperature open doors into ajoining rooms and make sure curtains are shut, allowing no heat to escape through the window glass.
- Learn how to use the timer features; do not leave your heat pump on all day if you are not home during the warm part of winter. Set the timer on your Heat Pump to turn on an hour or so before you arrive home.
- Try not to have your temperature set any higher than the recommended temperature 18 - 22°C and 16°C overnight
- Have your heat pump serviced regularly, clean the inside filter regularly and keep the outside clear of debris and obstructions as per manufacturers instructions.
At Home Smart you are dealing with experienced installers. We will advise you on the best place to position the Heat Pump in your home ensuring it can perform to it's maximum ability. We take into account the placements of windows, doors, walls, furniture and how the space of the room is used.