Sales are growing so quickly that some installers wonder whether heat pumps could even wipe out the demand for new air conditioners in a few years and put a significant dent in the number of natural gas furnaces.

  • Darkassassin07
    4·
    1 year ago

    Is it actually a heat pump, or just an AC with a heating element as well. That’s what mine is.

    • TemporaryBoyfriend
      2·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, my old furnace had an AC on the outside, but electric heat coils on the inside.

      The only big perk was that it acted like a dehumidifier in the winter - since I switched to a heat pump, I’ve had to put a dehumidifier in the basement.

      • xthexder@l.sw0.com
        2·
        1 year ago

        That just means it’s got 2 separate parts inside and outside connected by refrigerant lines (i.e. not a window unit that’s all one piece). Most AC-only units would also be considered “split type”.

      • Darkassassin07English
        1·
        1 year ago

        Ah, more than likely a proper heat pump then.

        It’s not unheard of, but uncommon to have resistive heating in a split unit.

        Fun fact: The only real difference between a heat pump and a plain AC is a reversing valve to change the direction of refrigerant flow. Resistive heating is just cheaper to manufacture and not enough people think about the long term cost.