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The Best HVAC System for North Carolina Homes

Choosing which HVAC system is right for you can be a daunting decision. With so many different types and brands of HVAC products, it’s almost impossible to know which best suits your needs. Air Experts is here to explain the functionality of the different types of systems to help you decide which is right for your Raleigh-Durham area home.

Understanding Cooling & Heating

Homeowners have several heating and cooling options in Raleigh and Durham. Here’s a short guide on how each system functions to help you determine which is best for your home:

Air Conditioning

The way air conditioners and heat pumps cool is fairly simple. Warm air always flows toward cold air, never the other way around. Cooling units are based around this principle.

Here’s a simple breakdown of the cooling cycle:

  1. Heat flows, or is transferred, from the air in your house to a refrigerant flowing through evaporator coils.
  2. The refrigerant is pumped outside, where the heat from your home is dissipated into the air.
  3. The cooled refrigerant is then pumped back into your home, where the cycle repeats.

All air conditioners use this principle of heat transference. In fact, the refrigerator in your kitchen uses the same method to keep your food fresh.

Furnace Heating

Furnaces are even simpler than air conditioning. When you burn fuel, you generate heat. Throw a log on a fire or pour lighter fluid on charcoal, and you get heat.

In a furnace, air is warmed in a heat exchanger either by burning fuel, like gas or propane, or by using electric heating elements. The warmed air is then blown through ducts to heat your home.

Heat Pump

A significant advantage of a heat pump is that there’s only one system handling both cooling and heating. In warmer weather, the heat pump works like an air conditioner. Refrigerant dissipates heat from the house to the outside, sending the cooled refrigerant back inside.

In colder weather, the process is reversed. The compressed refrigerant’s heat is transferred to the air inside your home.

Unlike a furnace, heat pumps don’t generate heat. They pump and transfer it. No fuel is burned. This can save you money, depending on local utility rates, making it a very efficient HVAC system.

Ductless Mini-Split

Mini-split systems are ideal for homes or rooms without ductwork. A ductless mini-split system is essentially a single-room heat pump mounted on a wall.

Refrigerant cools the air in the room, which is circulated by a blower. Heat exchange then occurs to either heat or cool the room.

The advantage of ductless mini-split systems is that they require no ductwork and are very efficient. Unlike old-fashioned window air conditioners, they don’t hang from a window or through a wall.

Which HVAC System Is Best for You?

The best HVAC system for you will depend on several personal factors:

  • Do you prefer combining heating and cooling into one system?
  • Do you prefer burning fuel in a furnace to generate heat or transferring heat with a heat pump?
  • Does your home have ductwork already installed?
  • What are the comparable utility rates and consumption for electric heat pumps versus fuel-burning furnaces?
  • How much does efficiency mean to you?
  • What’s your budget?

Answer these questions, and you’ll be well on the way to selecting the HVAC system that’s best for your home.

Heating & Cooling Installation in the Raleigh-Durham Area

We install the most efficient and reliable heating and cooling systems on the market. Our professional technicians will assess your home and help you decide which make and model is best suited to your individual home and needs.

Contact us today to schedule your HVAC installation.

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