Air Source Heat Pump

An air source heat pump, or ASHP, is the most common type of heat pump; it absorbs heat from cold ambient air outside a building and releases that heat at a higher temperature to warm the building, delivered either as hot air or hot water. Electricity powers the mechanical compressor, with the electric energy used typically providing three or four times more pumped thermal energy than simple resistive heating would produce directly. An air source heat pump uses the same vapor compression refrigeration process and much the same equipment as an air conditioner, but runs it in reverse. Air to air heat pumps provide hot or cold air directly to individual rooms, while air to water heat pumps use water pipes and radiators or underfloor heating to warm a whole house and are often also used to provide domestic hot water.