Heat Pumps

A heat pump is a device that uses mechanical or thermal energy to transfer heat from one space to another.

Thermoelectric heat pumps use the thermoelectric effect, specifically the Peltier effect, to heat or cool materials by applying an electrical current across them.

An absorption-compression heat pump (ACHP), also sometimes called compression-absorption heat pump, is a device that integrates an electric compressor in an absorption heat pump.

A ground source heat pump (also geothermal heat pump) is a heating/cooling system for buildings that use a heat pump to transfer heat to or from the ground, taking advantage of the relative constancy of temperatures of the earth through the seasons.

An air source heat pump (ASHP), the most common type of heat pump, can absorb energy (heat) sourced from cold ambient air outside a building, and release the energy at a higher temperature to heat the building, either via hot air or hot water.

A solar-assisted heat pump (SAHP) is a system that combines a heat pump and thermal solar panels and/or PV solar panels in a single integrated system.

Thermoacoustic engines (sometimes called "TA engines") are thermoacoustic devices which use high-amplitude sound waves to pump heat from one place to another (this requires work, which is provided by the loudspeaker) or use a heat difference to produce work in the form of sound waves (these waves can then be converted into electrical current the same way as a microphone does).