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Home & Garden Articles
Heat Pump-Gas Heat-Or Resistance Heat-What Does It All Mean To Me?
Tue 30 Jan 2007 - 15:32
Heat Pump-Gas Heat-Or Resistance Heat-What Does It All Mean To Me?
By Troy Dobson
There are several different types of heaters that you can use to supply heating and air conditioning to your home or business. There is the gas heat and electric cooling, electric resistance heat and electric cooling, and there is electric heating and cooling also known as a heat pump. Each has its advantages and there are many opinions as to which is the best, efficient and most cost effective to use.
The gas heat unit produces heat through the burning of natural gas or propane. The heat produced is forced into a baffled chamber called a heat exchanger. When the exchanger reaches the right temperature the blower turns on forcing the heat into the room through floor or ceiling registers attached to duct work. Depending on what part of the country you live in the use of gas for heating is typically the most economic way to heat a home or business. The heat produced by gas or propane tends to be warmer and dryer.
If you want to see your electric meter spin out of control, try living through a winter using resistance heat. Resistance heat is all electric, it is like a space heater on steroids. Inside the heater in front of the fan section there will be a set of coiled wires stretched between two posts these are called passes and depending on the amount of kilowatts or KW these strips put out will depend on how many passes and how many stages there might be.
Heat pumps are the answer to the resistance heater. Heat pumps cost less to run then resistance heat does and they tend to produce a more even temperature rise in the space which is supposed to lead to better comfort. The same compressor that you would normally use to cool your home is used to heat it as well. Through a reversing valve and a couple of check valves the refrigerant that normally removes the heat from the space actually brings the heat in to the space.
Each of these methods does have its merits. If you do not have access to gas or propane you can have resistance heat or a heat pump installed. Gas heat is thought to be to hot and dry by some, blasting down on the occupants of the space. Resistance heat, well it is just to expensive to use so I would stay a way. Heat pumps are nice for areas with out gas or propane. They tend to require some resistance heat because when running in heat their out door coils tend to frost up and require thawing to operate correctly. Defrost is provided by putting the unit back into cooling forcing the hot gas back through the outdoor coil causing the coil to defrost. Meanwhile the resistance heat has to be brought on to temper the cold air coming into the space.
Whether you are a new home owner or long time owner you can find this tip and many others to help you do your own home maintenance and repairs. At least when you hire some one you will have good information about what they are supposed to be doing. http://www.homemaintenance.getaliving.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Troy_Dobson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Heat-Pump-Gas-Heat-Or-Resistance-Heat-What-Does-It-All-Mean-To-Me?&id=433920
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