Air Conditioners & Heat Pumps by Treat’s Heating & Cooling
A heat pump is a device that provides heat energy from a source of heat to a destination called a “heat sink”. Heat pumps are designed to move thermal energy opposite to the direction of spontaneous heat flow by absorbing heat from a cold space and releasing it to a warmer one. A heat pump uses some amount of external power to accomplish the work of transferring energy from the heat source to the heat sink.
While air conditioners and freezers are familiar examples of heat pumps, the term “heat pump” is more general and applies to many HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) devices used for space heating or space cooling. When a heat pump is used for heating, it employs the same basic refrigeration type cycle used by an air conditioner but in the opposite direction releasing heat into the conditioned space rather than the surrounding environment.
In common use, an air conditioner is a device that lowers the air temperature. The cooling is typically achieved through a refrigeration cycle, but sometimes evaporation or free cooling is used. Air conditioners do not have the ability to heat and cool a home as the heat pump does; they are strictly used for just cool air. There are central air conditioners that are installed in the home and some people have window units or portable free standing units in their homes.
If you are interested in finding out more information on heat pumps and air conditioners or would like a free estimate, call Treat’s Heating & Cooling at 360.825.0800
The Auburn, WA air conditioning experts at Treat’s Heating & Cooling offer high quality installation, repair, maintenance, and other heating and air conditioning services throughout Western Washington including Enumclaw, Buckley, Bonney Lake, Sumner, Puyallup, Tacoma, Auburn, Black Diamond, Covington, Maple Valley, Federal Way, Kent, & Seattle WA.