How is it that a machine (like a heat pump) can consume 1kw of power and produce an amount greater than that of heat? What am I misunderstanding?
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>How is it that a machine (like a heat pump) can consume 1kw of power and produce an amount greater than that of heat?
Because it doesn’t “produce” the heat
Heat pumps pump heat, they don’t make it
They’re air conditioners and you can set the hot side to be inside the room. Just like an AC or a fridge, refrigerant runs around through the coils and when in heatmode it goes outside the house, gets expanded so it transitions from a liquid to a cold gas, absorbs some heat from the outside air, gets squished from a gas into a much hotter liquid, then gives off its heat to the air inside the house
The power consumed is running the compressor which is pushing the refrigerant around, but the heat coming into the house is being stolen from the air outside and moved inside and that’s not related to the power consumed by the compressor.
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