The southwest Arizona climate is perfect for using a heat pump, particularly one with advanced features that help manage summertime energy bills. A heat pump works best in mild climates. It uses electricity and refrigeration to extract warmth from the outside air and bringing it inside. In the summer, the system takes the heat from your home and exhausts it outside for highly efficient cooling.
Heat pumps have an outdoor component that contains the condenser and compressor, the part that pressurizes the refrigerant and moves it into the house. Inside the house, the air handler blows air over the evaporator coil and sends it through ductwork to condition your home.
Advanced features for heat pumps in our warm climate are mainly those that increase their cooling efficiency, known as SEER(seasonal energy efficiency ratio) rating. Look for a heat pump with one or more of these features that help raise the SEER to 16 and above.
- Dual speed compressor. This varies the amount of refrigerant sent into the evaporator coil. During the spring and fall (and overnight), less cooling is needed. When the compressor operates at a lower speed, it uses less electricity.
- Variable-speed air handler. This kind of air handler is equipped with sensors that alter the speed at which the motor runs, speeding it up when conditioning needs are high and slowing it at start-up and when the heating or cooling load is lower. These systems are often quieter and will remove more humidity during the rainy season, helping you feel cooler. Variable-speed air handlers use electronically commutated motors, which use considerably less electricity than an old-style permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor.
If you’d like more information about advanced features for a heat pump, please contact us at Hansberger Refrigeration & Electric Company. We’ve provided top-notch HVAC services for the Yuma area since 1952.
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 Resource guide.
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