Using the Heat Pumps to Turn an Air Conditioner to a Heating Appliance

You may at times wonder whether or not you can use the heat pumps in such a way to turn an air conditioner into a heater. Well, to change an air conditioner to heater the entire process of heat transfer must be reversed. This can be possible with just a simple addition of a single component called the reversing valve. This will easily bring in the reversing effect and turn the flow of the thermal energy through the heat pump system. You are recommended to purchase heat pumps instead of spending huge money on air conditioners because you can also save a lot of your time and money if you install heat pumps.

• When it is put in the heating mode it will simply flip the reversing valve so that the flow of the refrigerant through the heating system changes its direction.

• It is during this time the hot condenser coils will become cold evaporator coils and vice versa.

• This flipping will prevent venting the hot air outside but instead the cold air which is expelled when warm air is pumped inside the room.

Now, when you know that such a change in heating is possible, you will tend to ask yourself another question. If heat the pump is a better heater then why on earth will you choose an air conditioner that has a heating option over any standard space heater? Well, the answer to this specific question lies in the space saving benefits as well as the economic and environmental advantage.

The Basics of the System

At this point you must also know a little bit regarding the heating and cooling system basics. For this, you will first need to know how these heating and cooling systems work.

• At first you will need to know the components which are typically three in number in almost all climate control systems. These three basic components are a source of warm or cool air, a means to distribute this air to all the rooms that need to be heated or cooled, and also a control to regulate the entire system which usually is the thermostat.

• The source of warm air is the furnace and for cool air is the air conditioner. However, in a house it is the same control and distribution system often used. Assuming that you have a central air conditioning system in your house the cool air will typically flow through the same ducts through which the warmed air does. This flow will also be controlled by the same thermostat.

As for the working principle, both heating and cooling follows the same theory that heat moves from warm object to a cooler one. When such a heating and cooling system malfunctions, there may be a problem in any or all of these three basic components.

Installing Heater Elements

You may add a heater unit to an air conditioner system but make sure when you decide to do so you call an expert for the same if you do not have enough knowledge about it. This is important as it involves much more than simply attaching wires to the terminals. You must ensure that everything is done correctly for the desired heating.

However, you will get these heaters easily and along with it, get the required kits as well to attach it to your existing air conditioner unit. The process followed includes drilling a few holes on the wall where the central air conditioning unit is located. You may also install the heating units under the stairs by using the indoor connections to the air conditioning unit.

Make sure that you follow the instructions on the packet because all heaters are not the same and will have different attachments that will require special attention. Use the power cord of the heater and not that of the air conditioner unit as air conditioning units are often damaged due to bad weather.