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For climates with moderate heating and cooling needs, heat pumps offer an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners. Like your refrigerator, heat pumps use electricity to move heat from a cool space into a warm, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer. During the heating season, heat pumps move heat from the cool outdoors into your warm house; during the cooling season, heat pumps move heat from your cool house into the warm outdoors. Because they move heat rather than generate heat, heat pumps can provide up to 4 times the amount of energy they consume.
The most common type of heat pump is the air-source heat pump, which transfers heat between your house and the outside air. If you heat with electricity, a heat pump can trim the amount of electricity you use for heating by as much as 30% - 40%. High-efficiency heat pumps also dehumidify better than standard central air conditioners, resulting in less energy usage and more cooling comfort in summer months. However, the efficiency of most air-source heat pumps as a heat source drops dramatically at low temperatures, generally making them unsuitable for cold climates, although there are systems that can overcome that problem.
For homes without ducts, air-source heat pumps are also available in a ductless version called a mini-split heat pump. In addition, a special type of air-source heat pump called a "reverse cycle chiller" generates hot and cold water rather than air, allowing it to be used with radiant floor heating systems in heating mode.
Higher efficiencies are achieved with geothermal (ground-source or water-source) heat pumps, which transfer heat between your house and the ground or a nearby water source. Although they cost more to install, geothermal heat pumps have low operating costs because they take advantage of relatively constant ground or water temperatures. However, the installation depends on the size of your lot, the subsoil and landscape. Ground-source or water-source heat pumps can be used in more extreme climatic conditions than air-source heat pumps, and customer satisfaction with the systems is very high.
A new type of heat pump for residential systems is the absorption heat pump, also called a gas-fired heat pump. Absorption heat pumps use heat as their energy source, and can be driven with a wide variety of heat sources.
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A ductless mini-split air conditioner is an excellent choice for any climate and home. These systems are also often used for whole-house cooling in homes with hot water radiant heat (no hot-air ductwork). Heat pump models are also available for efficient heating in the winter too.
These ductless air conditioners are called mini-splits because they are similar to a regular ducted central air conditioner, but on a smaller scale. The compressor unit is located outdoors and a super-quiet cooling unit is mounted high on a wall or ceiling.
If you currently do not have air-conditioning, or if you have a central system that does not cool well, adding a ductless air conditioner provides better comfort than a window unit. It is quieter and more efficient and has more cooling capacity.
Instead of using window air-conditioners, which block windows and can present a security risk, the tiny refrigerant lines and wiring come indoors through a three-inch hole in the wall. When properly positioned, three ductless indoor units can easily cool an entire house.
Unlike central air-conditioning outdoor units, an outdoor unit for a ductless system is small and quiet. A typical indoor unit is only 32 inches by 11 inches by 7 inches deep and weighs 18 pounds. Models with built-in filters are often more effective than a central filter for removing larger allergen particles.
For convenience and comfort, better models have hand-held remote controls that regulate everything - temperature, louver directions, on/off times, etc. If your area has high humidity, select a model with a dry-mode setting. This adjusts the air flow for comfortable, low-humidity indoor air.
For a very large area, a model with moving vanes is a plus to distribute the cool air evenly. Using a hand-held remote, you can also adjust the louvers up/down and right/left to concentrate the cooling in one smaller area.
In addition to the comfort and quiet operation, using a ductless model, with or without central air-conditioning, can save you money. These units are equipped with hand-held remotes that allow you to cool only certain areas of your home during certain times, which results in big savings on your electric bills.
For winter heating, you can choose a heat-pump model, with or without backup electric heat. If you hate that first shot of chilly air when the blower starts, select a model with a preheater for the air.
Downloadable software- cheap oem software.
Modern furniture- Modern bedrooms
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Ductless split air conditioning offer higher efficiency and reduced noise without a large hole in the wall or an open window. By separating compressor and condenser fan from indoor blower, the noisiest components are outside and away from the room. The indoor part of the ductless air conditioner has remote control capabilities and a timer to cycle the system only when needed.
Since mini split air conditioners have no ducts, they avoid energy losses associated with ductwork of central forced air AC systems. Duct losses can account for a significant portion of energy consumption for space conditioning, especially if the ducts are in a unconditioned space such as an attic.
Ductless air conditioning offers Higher Efficiency vs. window air conditioning, less noise, and no costly ductwork.
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