In our climate, installing a heat pump offers you an opportunity to save energy year round. When you’re considering and comparing different models, it’s essential to understand heat pump efficiency ratings and what they mean.
Efficiency Ratings Used For Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are given two efficiency ratings because they have both heating and cooling capabilities, and these ratings are displayed on the EnergyGuide label of individual units. To make comparison shopping more confusing, different terminology is used for geothermal and air source units. To help you compare the two types of heat pumps and individual models, here’s a breakdown of the two ratings and what they mean based on technology and function.
Air Source Heat Pumps
- Seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER). Just like central A/Cs, split-system and mini-split heat pumps have a SEER rating that describes their cooling efficiency. SEER ratings today range from a minimum efficiency of 14 up to a highly-efficient 23. The SEER rating is a measure of how much heat a particular unit moves during one cooling season, divided by the kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy consumed.
- Heating seasonal performance factor (HSPF). The HSPF describes a heat pump’s efficiency when it’s in heating mode. The rating tells you how many British thermal units (BTU) of heat a specific unit produces divided by the electricity it consumes in kWh.
Geothermal or Ground Source Heat Pumps
- Energy efficiency ratio (EER). Geothermal heat pumps are given a different rating for their cooling efficiency – EER. Today, EER ratings range between 13 and 45, and higher-rated units are more energy efficient. An EER tells you how much cooling a specific heat pump provides in BTUs per watt of energy it consumes at 95 degrees over a one-hour period.
- Co-efficient of performance (COP). This rating tells you a specific unit’s heating efficiency. COP describes the BTUs produced per watt of energy consumed, and the heat pumps available today have ratings ranging from 2 –5.5, with 5.5 being the most efficient.
For expert help choosing an efficient heat pump for your Yuma home, contact us at Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Yuma, Arizona about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heat pumps and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 928-723-3183.
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