What is Heat Pump?
Definition of Heat Pump in Construction
The heat pump has recently become extremely popular for mechanical heating and cooling systems, due to the energy efficiency of the systems.
The heat pump extracts or dissipates energy from a medium such as air, water or soil. If the equipment is required to provide heat to a space, the energy is removed from the medium and converted to heat by the heat pump. If the equipment is required to provide cooling to a space, energy is dissipated from the heat pump to produce cooling. New technology and development has improved the efficiency of heat pumps making them popular for residential heating and cooling. Larger heat pumps are installed in commercial and industrial spaces to provide heating and cooling. The mechanical engineer will design the system to use water, air or earth as the heat source for the equipment. In many cases, the drilling of a series of wells is performed, and the fluid within the heat pump system is pumped down into the wells and returned. In this manner, heat can be extracted, or dissipated, dependent upon the need for heat or cooling in the serviced environment. Heat pumps are normally operated with electrical power and the improvement in their efficiency has caused the heat pump systems to become extremely popular. One of the negative issues with a heat pump is its inability to provide major heating in a very cold environment. The use of supplemental heating coils, either electric resistance or gas fired burners are required to assist the heat pump, when the temperatures are extremely cold.