In order for your heat pump to effectively provide both heating and cooling capabilities for your Fuquay Varina, NC home, each part must operate as designed. When you look at your heat pump, you likely only see the large unit that sits outside your home and the air handler in your garage or a closet, but the system actually relies on a series of coils, lines and other parts that transfer air while changing its temperature. Learn more about these parts and how they work together to keep your home comfortable and safe while maintaining energy efficiency.
1. Refrigerant
While refrigerant isn’t a piece or part that you probably think of when you consider heat pump components, it’s arguably the most important part of the equation. The direction that the refrigerant flows through your system determines whether your heat pump heats or cools your home.
During warmer months, you need your heat pump to serve as an air conditioner and provide cool, refreshing air in your home. In order to do this, the system pulls warm air out of your house so the compressor can circulate refrigerant between the evaporator coil inside and the condensing unit outside. The refrigerant absorbs the heat from the indoor air which cools the air before it’s pushed back through your home.
When fall and winter arrive, bringing lower temperatures, you need your heat pump to serve as a heating unit. This happens when the direction in which the refrigerant flows reverses, resulting in the reserving the refrigeration process. When the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air, it increases the temperature of the air that the motorized fans pull from your home before redistributing it through your vents, keeping you and your family warm.
The lines that carry the refrigerant also play a pivotal role in your home’s heating and cooling. If these lines suffer any sort of damage, you’ll experience a refrigerant leak. It’s crucial to remember that federal laws require a professional technician to perform any refrigerant work.
2. Evaporator Coil
The evaporator, also referred to as an evaporator coil in your system, pulls heat energy from the air outside your home before cooling the air and pushing it through your home. When warm air moves across the surface of the evaporator coils and cools the air, any moisture that forms drips into the drain pan and is expelled from your home through the condensate line. During this process, cold air gets distributed into your living space through your ductwork.
3. Condenser Coil
The condenser coil takes the hot, compressed gas the compressor generates and expels it outdoors. This ensures safe heat dissipation, providing effective cooling without straining your HVAC system.
4. Compressor
The compressor squeezes the refrigerant, causing it to occupy a reduced space, a procedure called compression. When you condense a fixed quantity of gas or fluid into a smaller volume, it increases pressure. Consider inflating a tire and the subsequent pressure surge with additional air.
When you elevate the pressure of the refrigerant by compressing it, it raises its temperature. This compression process enables the refrigerant to transfer heat, thus enabling the system to heat and cool your home.
Considering its role, the compressor stands out as the primary energy consumer within the system. If your compressor encounters any problems, you’ll notice an increase in energy consumption even before it reaches a complete failure.
Each of these components plays a pivotal role in keeping your home comfortable, maintaining good indoor air quality and allowing your home to operate at peak energy efficiency. When something goes wrong with even one of these parts, it’s important that you contact a professional HVAC contractor to perform the necessary repairs and restore your system to full working order. Contact us at Cape Fear Air Conditioning to find out why Fuquay Varina homeowners trust us for all of their HVAC service needs.
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