Residential Equipment

What is the difference between an air conditioner and a heat pump?
It is not uncommon to wonder whether the part of your heating and cooling equipment that sits outside is a heat pump or an air conditioner. After all, they do look very similar, and they both have very similar looking indoor units which could be either an air handling unit or a furnace.

When I ask the home owner what type of equipment they have, and they are not sure, my next question is “Do you pay a gas bill?” If the answer is “no”, the equipment is probably a heat pump. If the answer is “yes”, the equipment is likely to be an air conditioner.

Are there exceptions?
Yes. Typically, an air conditioning unit outside is matched to a furnace inside; and a heat pump outside is matched to an air handling unit inside. However, a heat pump outside can be matched to a furnace inside. This is often called “dual fuel” because gas and electricity are used for heat.

Also, if you have a huge outdoor unit and nothing inside, you probably have a gas package unit or heat pump package unit.

“A little help with the terminology please!”
I can hear you asking, and I am here to help. We at Comfort By Design want you to be as informed about your heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) as possible.

When you buy an automobile you probably want to know:

• whether the transmission is automatic or manual
• the type of fuel it uses: regular gas, diesel, or electric hybrid
• whether the engine has four, six or eight cylinders
• the type of gas mileage the vehicle gets

We want you to be just as informed about your HVAC equipment; and there you have your first term:

H is for heating
V is for ventilation
AC is for air conditioning

When we in the industry say HVAC, we are referring to any one, or combination of:

• natural gas or propane furnace
• oil boiler
• air conditioner
• heat pump
• gas or heat pump package unit
• air handling unit
• coil
• humidifier
• air cleaner
• ventilator