More and more households are discovering that an air conditioner can do more than just cool. Modern air conditioners can also heat efficiently. They use a heat pump to draw heat from the outside air indoors. This allows you to often save on gas while still enjoying a comfortable indoor climate. In practice, an air conditioner can, for example, provide 3 to 5 times as much heat as the electricity it consumes (COP 3-5). This means that for every kWh of electricity, you get approximately 3 to 5 kWh of heat, which is significantly more efficient than traditional electric heating.
How does heating with an air conditioner work?
A modern split air conditioner has an indoor and an outdoor unit. Even at low temperatures, there is still heat in the outside air. The outdoor unit extracts this heat and sends it indoors via a refrigerant. The indoor unit then distributes the warm air throughout the room.
An air conditioner moves heat instead of generating it itself. This often means it consumes less energy than electric heating. Especially in well-insulated homes, this is an attractive solution. For comparison: where an electric heater needs 1 kWh of electricity for 1 kWh of heat, an air conditioner can deliver up to 4 kWh of heat with the same amount of electricity.
When is heating with an air conditioner advantageous?
An air conditioner is particularly interesting if you:
- have a well-insulated home;
- want to be less dependent on natural gas;
- often heat one or a few rooms;
- have solar panels that cover part of your electricity consumption.
If you use self-generated solar energy smartly, costs will further decrease. That's why the combination of solar panels and an air conditioner is becoming increasingly popular. In many cases, heating with an air conditioner can be 30% to 60% cheaper than heating with gas, depending on energy prices and insulation. For example: where an average household spends €1,200 per year on gas for heating, this can drop to approximately €500 to €800 in electricity costs with an air conditioner.
Heating multiple rooms
Do you want to heat more than one room? Then a multi-split air conditioner is a good option. With this setup, you connect multiple indoor units to a single outdoor unit. You set the temperature for each room individually, so you only heat where it's needed. This increases comfort and prevents energy waste. By targeted heating, you can also save an additional 10% to 20% compared to heating the entire house with a central heating system.
Advantages of heating with an air conditioner
An air conditioner for heating has several advantages:
- Lower energy costs with smart use.
- Quickly achieves a comfortable temperature.
- Cooling and heating with one system.
- Less reliance on gas.
- Good to combine with solar panels.
Regular maintenance remains important. Clean filters ensure efficient operation and good air quality. Good maintenance can also reduce energy consumption by 5% to 10%.
Is an air conditioner suitable as primary heating?
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