The severe weather conditions in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, makes a dual fuel system an ideal solution.
A dual fuel system combines an electric heat pump with a gas furnace. This partnership is quite a bit more expensive than the more conventional pairing of an air conditioner and a furnace. A heat pump is a significant investment. However, the benefit of the heat pump is that it provides both heating and cooling. During the summer months, the operation is identical to an air conditioner. The system uses refrigerant to pull heat out of the home and transfer it outside. When the outdoor temperatures cool down, the heat pump switches to heating mode and literally reverses the flow of refrigerant. Even when the weather is chilly, there is ambient heat available in the outside air. The heat pump takes advantage of this ambient heat, compressing it to a higher temperature and delivering it indoors. Because the system isn’t burning fossil fuels to create heat, the operation is especially safe, clean and environmentally friendly. There are no concerns over carbon monoxide or greenhouse gas emissions. Plus, a heat pump is wonderfully energy efficient. It costs a lot less to run the heat pump than the furnace. For the majority of the year, we rely on the heat pump. The furnace isn’t necessary until the outside temperature drops below freezing. At that point, the heat pump becomes less effective. The furnace takes over and handles the comfort of the home for as long as necessary. While the start-up costs for the dual fuel system were considerable, the energy savings have recovered the investment very quickly.