how does a heat pump work?

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I don’t get it. How is cold, even freezing air turned into heat? How is it less energy consuming than other heating systems?

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23 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The real ELI5 is when you squeeze a gas it gets hot. (See adiabatic heating)

If you expose the hot pipes to outside air or water they will cool to about that temperature.

If you later release the stored pressure, the gas gets cold.

If you allow those pipes to touch air or perhaps water they will cool what they’re touching.

A heat pump does this continuously through a restricter valve to keep one side compressed and the other in a vacuum as the pump runs.

Moving heat to where you want it is about 5-6 times more efficient than making it through electrical resistance heaters

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