Example
It can collect heat from air, ground or water to warm buildings.
The catch
Performance varies with temperature, building design and installation.
Related terms
Electrification, Energy conservation, Energy efficiency, Energy storage, Fossil fuel, Renewable energy
In more depth
Heat pump, explained.
A heat pump delivers more heat than the electricity it consumes, often several times more, because most of the energy comes from its surroundings and the electricity mainly moves it. Engineers express this as a coefficient of performance, and the average across a real year of weather is the figure that matters for bills and emissions.
Heat pumps sit at the centre of many national plans for the electrification of heating. The IEA finds that in most markets they already cut emissions compared with a gas boiler, and the advantage grows as the grid gets cleaner. Real-world results hinge on details. A unit sized for a draughty house, or paired with radiators too small for low flow temperatures, runs less efficiently. The refrigerant matters too, since some have a high global warming potential if they leak.