Do Heat Pump Water Heaters Work In Cold Climates

But heat pumps have a backup plan for when that happens.

Do heat pump water heaters work in cold climates. A heat pump utilizes nature s free heat to transfer what heat is in the air through the evaporator coil. They have gotten a boost from state energy offices and utilities promoting heat pumps as a cost saving alternative to fossil fuels. Heat pumps can draw sufficient heat from the outside air even in sub freezing weather. That means that a hpwh cools the space where it is located.

Generally speaking homeowners in cold climates are typically successful installing hpwhs in unconditioned areas with exposure to the heat of a furnace boiler or washer and dryer. So the heat pump in a water heater which is located inside your house will have no trouble at all with pulling heat from the cool air in the basement or garage. Yes heat pumps can still heat a home really well even if you live in the coldest regions of the country. Replacing an aging gas water heater with a hpwh or specifiying a hpwh for new buildings is a feasible way to join the renewable energy future.

Using an air source heat pump heat pump water heaters hpwhs extract heat out of the air where they are located to heat the water. That s a good thing in the summer it doubles as air conditioning but in the winter it s not so helpful. Cold climate heat pumps heat pumps designed for use in cold climates are fairly new in the us and just started to catch on in the mid 2010s. That s especially the case in a cold climate in a house without a standard heating system.

Why air source heat pumps lose efficiency in cold climates how much heat your air source heat pump can transfer into your home depends on the outdoor temperature. On colder temperature days a heat pump will begin to freeze the condensate that forms normally on the evaporator coil. Home heat pump water heaters are for cold climates too. In a typical new england house that has a furnace or boiler in the basement producing a lot of waste heat a heat pump water heater can use some of that waste heat and it s not really very noticeable.

As the outdoor temperature drops so does the heat output of your air source heat pump. Submitted by jose rivero on thu. The short answer is yes a heat pump will work in cold weather. Well heat pumps definitely lose capacity as the outdoor temperatures get colder.

To explain what we mean first we ll need to look at how a heat pump works and why it needs backup heat.