VRF Heat Pumps
Finding the right method to heat your home can be a tricky business. You want something that will be both effective and energy efficient, which can seem like an impossible feat at times. But there really are systems out there that feature both of these excellent characteristics as long as you know where to look.
One great option to consider for Tacoma, WA area homes is a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heat pump. VRF heat pumps are generally more efficient and adaptable than traditional heat pumps, but they work on the same principle. By removing heat from the outdoor air and bringing it inside to heat your home, VRF heat pumps can create a cozy indoor environment with a very small output of energy.
How VRF Heat Pumps Work
Of course, when you need to heat the inside of your home, that generally means that the air outside is pretty cold. So where do VRF heat pumps gather enough heat from to heat your home? In fact, even the outdoor air that seems uncomfortably cold to us still contains a significant amount of heat. You just don’t feel it because it isn’t very concentrated.
But that’s what VRF heat pumps do. They gather and concentrate the heat from the air and then redirect it into your home, a much smaller space than the great outdoors. And certainly the colder it is outside, the harder your VRF heat pump will have to work to gather an adequate amount of heat. But in most moderate climates, any good VRF heat pump is more than up to the task.
Not Just for Heating
Despite what you might think from hearing the name, VRF heat pumps don’t just provide warmth to your home during the colder winter months. In fact, they can actually pump heat the opposite way in the summer to help keep your home nice and cool no matter how hot it is outside.
While this may seem counterintuitive, it’s actually exactly the same thing your heat pump does to heat your home in the winter, only in reverse. Instead of drawing heat from the outside air into your home, your heat pump can expel the heat from inside, keeping the indoor temperature cool and comfortable even on the hottest summer days.
VRF for Flexibility
What’s really nice about VRF heat pumps as opposed to other types of systems is that they’re generally more adaptable. You simply don’t need the same level of heat or cooling all over your house all of the time, and with a VRF system, you have much more control to regulate what the temperature is in various areas of your home.
For instance, you’ll likely need a considerable amount more cooling in your kitchen in the summer, particularly when you’re working to get dinner ready. But in the winter, you won’t need to heat your kitchen area as much because the heat from the stove and oven will take care of a lot of that for you.
You also don’t need to be heating and cooling unoccupied areas of your home, and VRF systems make it easy to manage these types of controls as well. And cutting down on the amount of heat you need and the amount of space you need it to cover means less of a workload for your system.
Expert Heat Pump Technicians
A VRF heat pump can be a great solution for the home heating and cooling needs of King and Pierce County, Washington area residents. So if you’d like to learn more about how one of these systems can be made to work in your home, call Emerald Aire today. We have experts on hand to answer your questions and get you started down the road to efficient and comfortable home heating and cooling.