Heat pumps

This tells you how a heat pump moves conditioned air around your home.

Ducted systems, naturally, connect to ductwork through an air handler that usually has a large fan.

In a ductless system, you’ll usually have one air handler (or “head”) per room, attached to the wall or ceiling, and connected to the outdoor unit.

The most common type of heat pump, one that relies on the air outside your home as a heat source (or heat sink, in cooling mode). It looks like a central air conditioner and is easy to install in most homes. Learn more about air-source heat pumps

The other common type of residential heat pump. It relies on hundreds of feet of tubing buried underground. Ground-source systems are difficult and expensive to install, but typically pay for themselves through savings on your energy bills.

Whole-home heat pump systems are meant to handle all (or more than 90%) of your heating and cooling needs. Partial-home systems are used to heat or cool single rooms and supplement an existing HVAC system. Both are eligible for rebates and incentives.

These terms describe the number of air handlers or ductless “heads” connected to one outdoor unit. If it’s a simple one-head, one-compressor system, that’s a single-zone system. If multiple air handlers are connected to a single outdoor compressor, that’s a multi-zone system (sometimes called a multi-split). Single-zone systems are more efficient. But if you need HVAC for multiple rooms (and don't have ducts), it’s usually more practical to install a ductless multi-zone system. Most multi-zone heat pumps can accommodate up to five heads, though there’s some evidence that it’s better to stick with a maximum of three heads per outdoor unit.