HeatPumpPathHeat Pump Types and System Designs
Air-Source vs. Ground-Source Heat Pumps for a Retrofit Home
Compare the site work and system choices behind air-source and ground-source heat pumps without assuming one is right for every home.
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Retrofit
Explore guides grouped by this term.
Retrofit and Installation Planning
Can Existing Ducts Work With a Heat Pump?
Prepare for an HVAC assessment of existing ducts by recording comfort problems and understanding the tests that determine whether ducts can be reused, changed, or replaced.
Existing Heating and Distribution
Can I Use My Existing Gas Furnace Ducts for a Heat Pump?
Existing forced-air ducts may be reusable, but the furnace label does not establish that they can deliver a heat pump’s output. Learn what a room-by-room design and duct assessment should cover.
Cooling, Humidity, and Ventilation
Do Ductless Heat Pumps Cool a Whole Home?
Find out when ductless indoor units can cool a whole home and how layout, closed doors, room loads, placement, and controls affect coverage.
Cooling, Humidity, and Ventilation
Does an Older Home Need More Ventilation After Air Sealing?
Understand why air sealing changes the ventilation question and what homeowners should have assessed before tightening an older home.
Heat Pump Types and System Designs
Gas-Fired Absorption Heat Pumps: A Different Home Heating Architecture
Understand how a gas-fired absorption heat pump differs from an electric heat pump and a dual-fuel boiler arrangement.
Find Your Home and Climate Fit
Heat Pump for an Old House With Radiators
Learn how room heat loss, radiator output and proposed water temperature shape a heat-pump retrofit in an older home, and what to ask before choosing a system path.
Retrofit and Installation Planning
Planning a Heat Pump in a Flood-Prone Home
Prepare a U.S. heat-pump project in a flood-prone location by asking how equipment, supports, access, and connected building systems will be protected under local conditions.
Retrofit and Installation Planning
Radiators and Underfloor Heating for Heat Pumps
Learn what a heat-pump designer should check before reusing radiators, pipework, or wet underfloor heating in an existing home.
Existing Heating and Distribution
Replacing Electric Baseboards With Ductless Heat Pumps
Plan which rooms a ductless heat pump should serve when replacing or supplementing electric baseboards. Room layout, closed doors, local winter capacity, and retained heat all matter.
Heat Pump Types and System Designs
Whole-Home vs. Partial-Load Heat Pumps
Define which rooms and share of a home's heating a heat pump will serve, and how any retained heating system will coordinate with it.