Are heat pumps efficient?

Yes, heat pumps are very efficient at heating your home. they can provide three to four times more heat energy than the electricity they consume. Traditional heating systems, like oil or gas boilers, convert fuel into heat. This conversion process is never perfect, and some energy is lost as waste heat making them less efficient.

Because heat pumps absorb energy from the air or ground, they can deliver significantly more usable heat than the electricity energy they consume. The efficiency of a heat pump is measured by a Coefficient of Performance (CoP). A CoP of 4.0 means a heat pump delivers 4 units of heat for every 1 unit of electricity it uses. That’s 3 units from your source energy, normally the air or ground.

No machine can be truly more than 100% efficient according to the laws of thermodynamics. However, if a heat pump delivers a CoP of 4.0 this is often referred to as being 400% efficient.

The terminology might seem counter intuitive, but the reason is you are only using one unit of electrical energy to move the source energy into your home (3 units) and produce a total of 4 units of heat energy for your heating or hot water.