Heat pumps are excellent home-comfort systems for our Yuma area climate, providing an energy-efficient heating and cooling solution in one convenient unit. For maximum comfort and energy savings in your home, make sure you’re utilizing your heat pump’s thermostat correctly during the heating months, and you’ll enjoy comfortable temperatures for your lifestyle that won’t break your energy budget.
Balancing Comfort and Efficiency 
Air-source heat pumps (the most common type) provide home heating and cooling by extracting heat energy from one location, and moving and releasing the heat energy to another location. Heat pump heating is very comfortable and efficient in this heat-exchange process when there are no significant temperature swings inside or outside the home.
Save Energy With Your Heat Pump’s Thermostat
Programmable thermostats that are specifically designed for heat pumps allow a homeowner to save energy with setback periods (working and sleeping hours), and then bring the home to the normal comfort setting incrementally – one degree at a time – to avoid activating inefficient backup electric heating.
It’s important to select a programmable thermostat that is compatible for your specific heat pump manufacturer and model. And you must use your heat pump’s thermostat correctly.
Program moderate temperature changes until you become acclimated with the thermostat. You will still enjoy energy savings, and you will be less tempted to use the “hold” feature to manually override program settings. Remember, if you increase the heat pump’s thermostat by more than a few degrees above room temperature, you’ll lose any energy savings you’ve garnered when the backup heating activates.
If you have any questions about your heat pump’s thermostat, or if you would like assistance with selecting a new thermostat, please contact us at Hansberger Refrigeration & Electric Co. We’ve provided exceptional service and installation for Yuma area residents 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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