An energy efficient heat pump can cool your home as effectively as a similarly sized air conditioner, but a heat pump is much more flexible. When the outside weather turns cold, a heat pump can reverse cycle to provide heat as needed. This flexibility gives homeowners a new level of control over their HVAC system. Heat pumps are also a great way to help reduce seasonal utility costs. Of course, not all heat pumps are the same. Fortunately, when it comes to measuring individual heating efficiency, all you have to remember is HSPF.

HSPF: Heating Seasonal Performance Factor

As you may have already eruditely inferred from the subtitle, HSPF stands for Heating Seasonal Performance Factor. Which sounds really complicated, but don't worry. Basically, HSPF just measures the energy efficiency of a given heating unit over an operating season. The higher the rating, the more energy efficient a given unit can perform. So, roughly speaking, the higher the rating, the less money you are going to spend when you use your heat pump to generate heat. And who doesn't like saving money?

Well, how do I find out my heat pump rating?

Depending on the manufacturer brand, the heat pump sales literature may proudly display a unit's given HSPF rating. However, some companies prefer to display a system's coefficient of performance (CoP), an efficiency metric similar to HSPF. CoP follows a similar rule inasmuch as higher is better. Ergo, a higher CoP should also save you money. If you definitely want to find the HSPF, you could always check the product manual and installation literature. Or you could look the product up on the AHRI website. Worse comes to worse and you still can't find it, drop an email to a dealer or contractor. The other alternative is to use a lot of math to figure it out yourself, but an email is easier.