Don't get caught sweating: invest in cooling before summer
Summer is on its way, and with it comes the dreaded heat.
Three ways to deal with a hot house
All three move something around. Only one of them moves heat in both directions.
While blasting the AC might seem like the only solution, there are smarter ways to keep your cool and take control of your comfort. Here is what each of the three is actually doing while it runs.
| What you put in the room | What it moves | In summer | In winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A fan | Air that is already in the room | Moves warm air past your skin, so you feel cooler standing in it. The room stays the temperature it was | Nothing |
| An air conditioner | Heat, one direction only | Takes heat out of the indoor air and drops it outside | Nothing. It only runs the one way |
| A heat pump | Heat, either direction | The same job an air conditioner does | Runs the cycle backwards and brings heat in, so it heats the house as well |
An air conditioner does one job and does it well. It draws power through the hottest weeks of the year and gives nothing back in the heating season, which is where both the running cost and the environmental argument come from. What a heat pump costs to buy and to run on a house here is on the cost page.
Why fans are just blowing hot air, literally
Let us look at some options beyond the limitations of a simple fan and traditional air conditioning.
Ah, the trusty fan, the soundtrack to a sweltering summer. It gives the illusion of a breeze, and it is basically just rearranging the misery.
Fans can provide a temporary breeze, but they only circulate existing air. On scorching days that air is already hot, which makes a fan a rather ineffective way to achieve true cooling. Moving air lifts heat off your skin, so you feel better in front of it. The room is exactly as warm as it was, plus whatever the motor adds.
If you want to really beat the heat, it is time to ditch the glorified wind machine and upgrade to climate control that actually works.
What an air conditioner does with the heat
Three moves. A heat pump is the same three, run in whichever direction the season needs.
- 01 Heat comes out of the room An AC unit keeps a room cool by removing heat from the air inside and transferring it outside.
- 02 The refrigerant carries it The refrigerant, a special fluid, circulates through the system, absorbing heat from your indoor air as it changes from a liquid to a gas.
- 03 Fans put the cooled air back Fans help circulate the cooled air back into your room, providing refreshing relief from the heat.
An air conditioner only knows the one direction. A heat pump essentially acts like a reverse AC, running the same cycle either way, which is how one machine ends up covering both seasons.
Heat pumps and home heating
Wait, a heat pump cools my house?
It might sound counterintuitive, but it is true. Heat pumps work by moving heat around. They do not make any of it.
In the winter they pull heat from the outside air, even when it is cold, and transfer it inside. In the summer they reverse direction, extracting heat from your home and releasing it outdoors. It is like having an air conditioner and a furnace all in one.
Why should I consider a heat pump?
Five reasons, and the last one depends entirely on how your house is heated today.
It moves heat instead of making it
That is the whole reason a heat pump does the same work on less electricity than baseboards or an electric furnace. How much less depends on the house, the insulation and what it is replacing, so we would rather look at yours than hand you an average.
One machine, two seasons
A heat pump cools your home in the summer and then acts as a heater in the winter, pulling warmth from the outside air. An air conditioner does the first half of that and sits idle for the second. One outdoor unit, one set of indoor heads, both jobs.
Even temperatures
They provide even, consistent heating and cooling throughout your home, rather than one room nobody can sit in and another that never warms up.
Nothing burns in the house
Heat pumps reduce your carbon footprint by using electricity instead of fossil fuels. There is no combustion and no flue inside the building, which is the other half of why people move to them.
There may be money on the table
There may be financial incentives available in your area to help offset the cost of installation. Which ones, and whether any reach your address at all, turns on how the house is heated today.
Rebate amounts and closing dates move, and this post was written in 2024. Our rebate pages name each program and link the official page behind every figure. The heat pump rebates need a contractor registered with the program, and Griffin Refrigeration is not registered with CleanBC Better Homes, so none of them is available on a heat pump we install today.
Which rebate applies here
Griffin Refrigeration Ltd., Qualicum Beach, British Columbia.
Call us: 250-797-2829. Or write to us through the
contact form.
Sort the cooling out before June
A sizing conversation in spring beats an emergency quote in a heatwave. We reply within 24 hours.