Do You Need a Furnace With a Heat Pump in Mequon, WI?
Professional Services
September 20, 2024
Heat pumps are becoming increasingly popular, but many homeowners still trust furnaces over pumps. As you prepare to upgrade your heating system, you might wonder about the best options and combinations.
Do you need a furnace with a heat pump?
As the leading furnace repair contractor in Mequon, WI, Professional Services examines both systems’ unique attributes and whether you need one heating system with the other.
How Do Heat Pumps Work?
The heat pump is a hybrid heating system that can also provide cooling during warm weather. Traditionally, homeowners with heat pumps needed a backup heating source in case they couldn’t efficiently warm their homes during bitter winters. Today, this is less of a concern, although it depends on where you live.
Heat pumps pull heat from the ground, outdoor air, or subterranean water sources, transferring this heat into the building. Do you need a furnace with a heat pump? While they’re versatile, a few pros and cons might change your decision to install a heat pump in Mequon, Wisconsin.
Pros of Heat Pumps
Why have heat pumps grown in popularity? Consider these attributes:
- Energy efficiency: Heat pumps use less energy for consistent heat distribution.
- Conservative utility usage: Since heat pumps provide consistent heat, they often incur lower expenses during operation.
- Potential tax benefits: Some Mequon households may qualify for tax benefits for installing modern heat pumps.
- Less system maintenance: Heat pumps aren’t as complicated as furnaces, so they need fewer maintenance visits.
Cons of Heat Pumps
Your heat pump purchase is a double-edged sword thanks to the following:
- Installation costs: You might pay more for installation services, depending on the type of heat pump you select.
- Cold weather struggles: A heat pump in cold climates might not heat buildings as effectively as a furnace.
- Lifespan: Furnaces typically last longer, outliving pumps by 10 to 15 years.
What About Furnaces?
Furnaces use fuels like gas, electricity, and propane to generate heat. While a furnace might supply warmth faster than a heat pump, the heat pump vs. furnace efficiency is often superior. However, furnaces handle colder climates better.
The question remains – do you need a furnace with a heat pump? These positives and negatives of a furnace installation might help you decide.
Pros of Furnaces
Many property owners have trusted furnaces for decades because of their unmatched:
- User-friendliness: Furnaces once dominated the HVAC market, so they’re familiar.
- Energy choices: You aren’t limited to electrical energy sources with an oil, gas, or propane furnace option.
- Affordable installation costs: Furnaces often cost less to install than their heat pump counterparts.
- Faster heating: You don’t want to wait for your house to warm up when the temperatures dive toward freezing. Furnaces quickly heat your house by blowing warm air into each room.
Cons of Furnaces
There are also reasons that furnaces have lost some ground in the heating industry. You could pay for your furnace’s potential advantages with the following:
- Expensive operational costs: Furnaces use much more energy and require more consistent maintenance than heat pumps. Both requirements increase expenses.
- Less consistency: Once you set the thermostat to your preferred temperature, the furnace will cycle until it reaches it but then turn off, resulting in sharp dips between comfortable and chilly.
- Lower air quality: Your furnace is a forced-air system circulating heat throughout your home. It also circulates dust and pollution, impacting your air quality and health.
Do You Need a Furnace With a Heat Pump in Mequon, Wisconsin?
When are dual heating systems appropriate? Do you need a furnace with a heat pump for your home in Mequon, Wisconsin, but not in the tropics?
First, consider our local weather patterns in Mequon, Wisconsin. Winter temperatures dip into the single digits, with January’s frigid weather as low as nine degrees Fahrenheit! Your heat pump efficacy in these conditions varies by pump type.
- Geothermal or ground source pumps work best between 45 and 75 degrees.
- Water source varieties operate efficiently at 45 degrees or higher.
- Air source models dip as low as 32 degrees.
So, in the bitter Wisconsin wintertime, you’ll want dual heating. Fortunately, many manufacturers now account for furnace compatibility with heat pumps, so look for heat pump models designed especially for connecting with your furnace.
Let Professional Services Assess Your Mequon Household’s Heating Needs
Do you need a furnace with a heat pump? Professional Services recommends that very thing if you’re thinking of modernizing your Mequon, Wisconsin, setup and wanting to save money. Then, to keep cozy all winter long, you’ll want to schedule heat pump and furnace maintenance with us!
Call our team to learn more from Professional Services!
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