Heat pumps are revolutionizing home heating and cooling by offering energy-efficient, all-electric solutions that work year-round—even in cold climates across the United States, like Colorado and Minnesota. At Zero Homes, we specialize in helping homeowners design and install heat pump and dual fuel systems that maximize comfort, efficiency, and savings. This guide breaks down:
How Heat Pumps Work
Heat Pump Types: Explained
Dual Fuel Systems: How They Work
Mini Split, Multi Split, Ducted Designs: Explained
Efficiency Ratings & Why They’re Relevant to You
Understanding Heat Pump Sizing
Leading Heat Pump Manufacturers
Incentive Quickstart Guide
How to Install a Heat Pump
A heat pump is a device that moves heat rather than generating it. In winter, it extracts heat from the outside air, ground, or water and transfers it indoors. In summer, it reverses the process to cool your home. Because it transfers heat instead of creating it, a heat pump can deliver up to 3–4 times more energy than it consumes, making it highly efficient.
For comparison, furnaces and boilers use fossil fuel combustion from gas, oil or propane to generate heat. Furnaces, or forced-air systems, distribute heated air through ductwork and vents. Boilers first heat water via combustion, and then use it to provide heat via radiators, baseboards or radiant floor heating.
Heat pumps come in several configurations to match different home layouts, comfort needs, and existing infrastructure. Below is a breakdown of the most common types used in U.S. homes, or go even more in depth here:
These systems have one outdoor unit connected to a single indoor unit and are ideal for:
Individual rooms or zones (like bedrooms, offices, or additions)
Homes without existing ductwork
Targeted heating and cooling upgrades
Multi splits connect one outdoor unit to multiple indoor units. Each indoor unit operates independently, allowing for customized temperatures in different areas of the home. Great for:
Homes with multiple living zones
Larger homes seeking ductless solutions
Retrofit projects
Ducted heat pumps use an outdoor air handler connected to ductwork to distribute air throughout the home, just like a traditional furnace and A/C system. These systems can be:
Full ducted systems: A central heat pump connected to ductwork for whole-home comfort.
LAILEY & COATES supply professional and honest service.
Ducted mini splits: A hybrid between ducted and ductless, serving multiple rooms with short-run ducts.
These are ideal for:
Homes with existing ducts
New construction or major remodels
Homeowners wanting to replace a furnace/air conditioningh setup with a heat pump
When choosing a heat pump, it's important to understand how their efficiency in summer and winter is measured. Each season has its owner rating and these ratings help determine how much energy the system uses and how well it heats or cools your home.
SEER measures how efficiently a heat pump cools your home over an entire cooling season. The higher the SEER rating, the more efficient the unit is.
Think of SEER like your car’s miles per gallon (MPG) — more SEER = less electricity used.
As of , most new systems must have at least 14.3 SEER2 in Colorado, but many high-performance models rate 20 SEER or higher.
Learn more about the differences between air conditioners and heat pumps here.
HSPF measures how efficiently the heat pump heats your home over the winter season.
Higher HSPF = better cold-weather performance and lower energy bills.
Cold-climate models often exceed 10 HSPF, which is excellent for winters from Colorado to Minnesota and beyond.
Starting in , manufacturers now also list SEER2 and HSPF2 ratings, based on more realistic testing conditions that better reflect how systems perform in real homes. These numbers are slightly lower than old SEER/HSPF ratings but more accurate.
What HSPF rates heat pumps’ winter efficiency, Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) does for furnaces and boilers. While HSPFs are numerical ratings, AFUEs are expressed as a percentage. If you keep in mind that HSPF tells you how much heat a heat pump produced for every unit of electricity used and AFUE tells how much of the system’s fuel energy use is used to heat your home, you’ll be in a good place to make an educated choice.
A Zero Homes advisor can help you understand the difference in performance to make the best choice for your home.
Heat pumps are sized in tons or BTUs (British Thermal Units).
1 ton = 12,000 BTUs/hour — enough for roughly 400–600 square feet depending on insulation and layout.
Proper sizing is key: a system that’s too small won’t keep up, while one that’s too large will short cycle and waste energy.
At Zero Homes, we use advanced software to calculate the perfect size and type of system for your home, ensuring optimal year-round comfort and efficiency. Our powerful, easy-to-use app is designed so walkthroughs aren’t necessary, freeing up your time.
Gary Dutton
Utility Services Coordinator
Old Timbers Dr.
Edmond, OK
Ph: (405) 216-
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit residential heat pump manufacturer.