To many people Heat Pumps represent a new technology but this is actually far from the truth, heat pumps have been around for several decades and have been used in many different situations both domestic and commercial, with one of the best recent examples being the 'Beijing Olympic Stadium' where the majority of the heating and cooling requirement was met by a combination of ground and air source heat pumps.
Put simply, a heat pump is a unit that contains a compressor and two fluid coils that efficiently enables the transfer of heated or cooled water or air, from one source ( Air or Ground ) to another ( Heating, Cooling or Hot Water ). They are extremely efficient, economical and can produce performance levels of between 150% to 500%, or put another way for every kilowatt of electricity used to power the units between 1.5 and 5.0 kilowatts of heating or cooling can be provided.
Heat pumps have a long proven record of reliability and can be expected to last as long as 15 to 20 years in normal operation, and it is not unusual for them to last many years longer!