Thread by @curious_founder

In the last few years heat pumps have become more popular.

And for good reason. They can save people money, cut carbon, and make your home more comfortable.

This week I wrote an article about how they actually work.

🧵 #energytwitter

carbonswitch.com/how-does-a-hea…

At the simplest level:

A heat pump is an appliance that can heat and cool your home.

But what makes these things so cool is the fact that they can do it 2-4x more efficiently than any other heating and cooling system.

For homeowners, that means utility bill savings of ~$700 per year and $10,000 over 15 years on average.

For our planet that means way less greenhouse gas emissions.

So how are heat pumps so efficient?

Unlike a furnace or boiler, heat pumps don't generate heat. Instead they move heat from one place to another.

In cooling mode, a heat pump moves the heat inside your home to the outside, leaving your home cooler.

This is no different than the way refrigerators and one-way air conditioners work.

They pump heat out of an insulated space, leaving it cooler.

But what makes a heat pump different from a traditional air conditioner is that this process can also be reversed.

On a cold day, a heat pump can move heat from the outside air into your home.

As I wrote last month, they can even pull heat from the outside air when it's -20 F outside.

That's because air molecules have energy in them all the way down to –459.67°F, a temperature known as absolute zero.

carbonswitch.com/do-heat-pumps-…

If you aren’t interested in the mechanics of how a heat pump works, that’s really all you need to know.

Heat pumps are just reversible air conditioners.

And they're one of the most effective ways to save energy and cut carbon.

If you want to learn more about the science of how all this works, check out the full article here.

carbonswitch.com/how-does-a-hea…