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There’s good reason that the image of a caveman learning to control fire is such an iconic and abiding cultural touchstone—being able to control the temperature of our surroundings represents our species moving from the primitive to the modern. There are few better representations of our journey than our ability to stay safe and comfortable no matter the outside temperature.
And as we’ve evolved through the centuries, so has how we’ve stayed warm and kept cool. From campfires to wood stoves to gas furnaces, how we’ve controlled our climate has helped define the eras in which we lived.
And right now, we’re living in the age of heat pumps.
The Next Level of Efficiency
Heat pumps have quickly become one of the most popular choices for indoor heating and cooling, and for good reason. While in the past people needed separate equipment for the seasons—a gas furnace for the winter and an air conditioner for the summer, heat pumps handle both heating and cooling with the same efficient hardware. Using electricity, heat pumps are a mechanical-compression cycle refrigeration system that can be reversed to either heat or cool a space using the outside air. Using an electrified climate control system like a heat pump is one of the most reliable and sustainable ways to keep a home comfortable.
Trane has long been a vanguard of heat pump design and manufacturing, continually innovating new ways to improve the efficiency of their systems. And when the government announced new guidelines for the refrigerants used in heat pumps, Trane took it as an opportunity to engineer their most efficient products yet.
That new refrigerant is called R-454B, and Trane has been testing and working with it for years, well before the latest regulations were put in place. Created to replace the former standard R-410A, R-454B allows Trane’s heat pumps to achieve zero ozone depletion potential and a 78 percent reduction in global warming potential compared to previous refrigerants. That means that in addition to the money-saving efficiency that electric heating already offers, the new models have the lowest carbon footprint yet.
Where Groundbreaking Engineering Gets Us
You can see the fruits of Trane’s engineering push in action with their 20 TruComfort™ Variable Speed Heat Pump with WeatherGuard™, which uses R-454B as its refrigerant.
The efficiency of heat pumps is generally measured in a couple of ways, both of which relate to how much energy is used to reach the desired temperature. In terms of cooling the air in the warmer months, the Department of Energy goes by the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, or SEER (recently updated to SEER2). For heating in the cold months, they use Heating Seasonal Performance Factor, or HSPF (which itself was recently updated to HSPF2—catchy, isn’t it?).
Split system heat pumps must have a SEER2 of 14.3 or higher and an HSPF2 of 7.5 or higher to pass muster with the Department of Energy. Trane’s 20 TruComfort™ Variable Speed Heat Pump with WeatherGuard™ has a SEER2 of up to 22.4 and an HSPF2 of up to 10.5, well above what’s required, providing optimal efficiency year-round. That means homeowners get lower energy bills and a smaller carbon footprint while remaining comfortable no matter the temperature outside.
Variable speed technology allows systems to operate using as little energy as possible. It does this by slowing down its components or speeding them up gradually as the outdoor temperature changes to maintain a temperature within half a degree of where it’s set. This allows for maximum comfort without using any more energy than is needed.
Of course, Trane’s engineering advancements didn’t stop at energy efficiency. The Trane Home app allows homeowners to have control over their home’s temperature, humidity, and air quality from anywhere. On the way home from the beach and it’s sweltering outside? A few taps on your phone and you can have your house nice and cool by the time you arrive, with no need to have it wastefully running while you’re gone.
Plus, Trane’s Link™ Communicating System Controller and Smart Thermostat automatically charges, configures, and calibrates for optimal performance year-round. And with its remote diagnostics, maintaining the hardware is far easier, with technicians able to see exactly how a unit is operating without needing to be there in person.
Welcome to the Electric Era
The electrification of climate control with the advancement of heat pump technology represents a whole new era. Thanks to Trane’s advanced engineering and use of the latest refrigerants, people now have access to reliable, comfortable heating and cooling without breaking the bank or harming the environment. It fulfills the promise of all great technologies: allowing us to live better lives in ways we could only dream of in the past.
If only those first cavemen rubbing sticks together to keep themselves warm could see us now. You can learn more about Trane’s most efficient heat pumps here.
