What's a heat pump?
Introduction
A heat pump heats your house in an environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient way. This way, you can save up to € 1000 per year. In this article, you can read how heat pumps works, which types there are, and what you can use them for here.
What's a heat pump?
A heat pump takes heat from the outdoor air and turns it into usable heat for your house. There's always heat in the outdoor air, even when it's freezing. A hybrid heat pump works with your boiler. When you use a lot of warm water or when it's cold outside, the boiler helps out. You can also replace your boiler with a fully electric heat pump.
How does a heat pump work?
The outdoor unit of a monoblock heat pump has tubes with refrigerant, which is colder than the outdoor air. A fan blows the outdoor air through it. Since warm air always moves to cold air, the refrigerant vaporizes. The warm refrigerant then flows to the compressor, which compresses the vapor. This increases the pressure and the temperature as a result. This can go up to 35 to 70°C. This allows you to warm your house. The hot steam moves through your house through the pipes. Eventually, the refrigerant cools down again. Thanks to the expansion valve, it moves back outside. There, everything starts all over again.
The advantages and disadvantages listed
- With a heat pump, you reduce your gas consumption. This way, you save about € 1000 on your energy bill.
- Because you use less gas, you also emit less CO2. That means it's better for the environment as well.
- You receive € 2775 to € 3375 in subsidies for a heat pump this year.
- You need a suitable place around your house, like in the garden or on the roof.
What you save
A heat pump generates more energy than it consumers. For every kilowatt hour a heat pump consumes, the system generates about 4 to 5kWh. In other words: a heat pump generates 4 times more energy than it uses. This means you have a 400 to 500% profit. With a boiler, this is about 95%. Because you use less gas, you save € 1000 on average per year. You can see how well your heat pump will heat your house based on the COP (Coefficient of Performance). The higher the COP, the more you save on your energy bill.
Installation and space
You often need a large indoor unit for a heat pump. Not every Dutch house is suitable for this. That's why Coolblue Energy sells heat pumps for the Dutch market. The indoor unit of these models is the same size as a internet modem. This means you don't need a large space or empty room.
