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A heat pump looks just like an air conditioner, but it does double duty, acting as a heater in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer. These units' pumps provide heat transfer to a high temperature region from a low temperature region. This process, opposite to the natural flow of heat, is accomplished at the expense of work input.

In the winter a heat pump captures the heat that is always present in the outside air --- even down to zero degrees or less --- and pumps it into your home. In the summer, because of its unique switchover valve, a heat pump reverses the flow of refrigerant in order to pull the heat out of your home and transfer it outdoors. It's this switchover valve that effectively converts a heat pump from a heater to an air conditioner, giving you the best of both worlds.

After careful evaluation, our team chose a Trane model TWY018B heat pump with an 18,000 BTUH capacity condenser.