Many people today are looking for alternative methods of home heating. Alhambra residents are turning to heat pumps to keep their families warm these days. However, many people are wondering how to measure the efficiency of a heat pump. There are actually four different kinds of measurements used to determine the efficiency of a specific model.One way to measure efficiency is to compare the amount of energy that is delivered by a heat pump to the amount of actual energy that is consumed. Remember for your comparison that the higher the number is, the greater the efficiency of that particular heat pump.
The most popular method for measuring the efficiency of a heat pump is the Coefficient of Performance, sometimes referred to as COP. This is the ration of the BTU heat output of the pump to the BTU electrical output. A ground or water source heat pump should have a rating of about three to five.
An air source type heat pump generally has a rating of about two to four. When the temperature outside drops, the air source heat pumps go down in rating. Be sure when you are comparing ratings that your are conducting your research under the same temperature conditions.
