Using Your Heat Pump for Cooling

When you think of cooling your home in the summer, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? It’s probably an air conditioning unit. The expert HVAC technicians at John Nugent & Sons are here to tell you that’s not your only option! Believe it or not, heat pumps can be an incredibly efficient method of cooling (and heating!) your home.

To learn more about using heat pumps for cooling in the Northern VA area, call us today at 703-291-1926 or contact us online!

Using Heat Pumps for Cooling in the Summer

Like air conditioners, heat pumps simply use a heat absorbing refrigerant to move heat from one place to another. In the winter, that means moving heat from outside to inside (yes, there’s still heat in the air when it’s cold!), and in the summer, moving warm air from inside the house to outside.

However, your heat pump won’t just switch to cooling by itself as the temperature starts to rise—you need to switch your heat pump over to cooling mode and take care of a few maintenance steps before you’re ready to use it for cooling.

Follow these steps:

Step 1: Switch your thermostat from HEAT to COOL – The most important step, really, is changing your thermostat from HEAT mode to COOL mode. This is going to reverse the heat transfer process so that your heat pump can cool your home.

Step 2: Keep your fan on AUTO – No matter what anyone else tells you, keep your heat pump fan on AUTO all the time. Some misguided friend may tell you that leaving it ON all the time will provide constant comfortable airflow to your home, but they’re wrong, plain and simple!

When you use heat pumps for cooling, they’re meant to turn on and off as they satisfy the temperature settings on your thermostat. That means that once the heat pump shuts down, the fan will continue to blow if it’s left in the ON position. Not only will this waste a lot of energy, but it will never allow your heat pump to switch to its defrost cycle, meaning it won’t be long before you’re dealing with frozen coils!

Step 3: Check your air filters – Make sure you check your air filters! Dirty air filters prevent the flow of clean air in your home and keep potentially dangerous pollutants trapped inside. Your air filters should be changed every one to three months depending on how often you run your heat pump.

Step 4: Set the temperature – It’s always best to keep your thermostat set at the highest comfortable temperature for your home. This will help you save energy and keep your heat pump from having to work extra hard to cool your home (which will increase the lifespan of your system).

Step 5: Schedule regular heat pump maintenance – A good habit to get into is having your heat pump inspected twice a year: once before switching to heating mode and once before switching to cooling mode. These preventative inspections give our HVAC experts a chance to ensure that your system is running properly and fix any minor issues before they become major problems!

Schedule Your Heat Pump Maintenance Today!

Don’t delay—schedule your heat pump maintenance today! If you’re located in Fairfax, Arlington, Centreville, Reston, or other nearby areas in Northern VA, call the experts at John Nugent & Sons for professional and reliable heat pump maintenance services. We can help you get your heat pump ready for the summer so you can enjoy a cool, comfortable home all season long.

Also, if we’ve convinced you to schedule a new heat pump installation, know that there are currently excellent heat pump tax credits available for the purchase and installation of a new unit! Call us to learn more.