Heating Learning Center
Both heating and air conditioning work on the principle that heat always moves from a warm object to a cooler one, just as water flows from a higher to a lower level. Furnaces and heaters put heat into the air to make your home warmer by use of either a heat exchanger or electric heating element.
The Heating Process
This side is much simpler than the cooling side. A fuel such as Natural Gas, Propane or Fuel Oil is burned in a series of channels in the furnace, these are called the heat exchanger. It introduces hot air into the cooler airstream before it is sent on its way into the duct stream for distribution. Check the Ratings! To help you make informed decisions about how to save energy, several rating systems have been developed. Higher numbers in each of these metrics indicates greater efficiency – and more savings! For example, our 98% AFUE modulating gas furnace will use $69 worth of gas to provide the same amount of heat that would cost $100 with a gas furnace that only has a 70% AFUE rating.
Heat Pump Process
Don’t let the name fool you. A heat pump, when matched with an air handler, is an excellent alternative for both heating and cooling your home. Just think of a heat pump as a heat transporter, extracting warm air from your home during the summer, and reversing operation to bring warm air in during the winter. Though it may be difficult to believe there’s enough warmth in outdoor air during the winter to heat your home, Daikin systems can actually deliver heat in conditions as low as -13 degrees Fahrenheit to keep you warm and toasty inside. However, in significantly colder climates, a supplemental heat source may be required.
A year-round home comfort solution, a heat pump and air handler system is particularly effective in moderate to warmer regions of the country and does a fine job of maintaining comfortable indoor temperatures and humidity levels. It also offers the air filtration benefits inherent to forced-air systems, because air is pulled through an air filter. This removes airborne particles and results in cleaner, filtered air being redistributed to your home through air supply ductwork.
Definitions & Terms
Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE): A measure of a furnace’s heating efficiency. The higher the AFUE%, the more efficient the product.
Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF): A measure of a heat pump’s heating efficiency. The higher the HSPF, the more efficient the product.
Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER): A measure of an air conditioner’s cooling efficiency. The SEER rating of a unit is the cooling output of the system during a typical cooling season divided by the total electric energy used in that same period. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the product.
AHRI: Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute.
Inverter: Energy saving technology that eliminates wasted operation in air conditioners by efficiently controlling motor speed. In inverter type heat pumps, temperature is adjusted by changing motor speed without turning the motor ON and OFF. This can result in a 30% savings in energy.
Split System: Your typical house has components that are located inside and outsid — literally split into two pieces. You may have also heard it referred to as “central air.” Consisting of an outdoor unit with a condenser and compressor and an indoor unit with a fan and an evaporator coil, a split air conditioning system works by removing warm air from your home and cycling it back as cooler air through a system of supply and return ducts.
VRV: Daikin invented Variable Refrigerant Volume technology in 1982, revolutionizing the HVAC market. VRV technology delivers individualized comfort control with substantial savings over typical “on/off” systems. Breakthrough innovations such as VRV Heat Recovery enhance comfort and versatility even further, providing simultaneous heating and cooling in different zones from one system, and heat recovery from one zone to another, essentially providing “free heat”.
