Lakeland, Florida, offers a humid subtropical climate.
The summers are long, hot and sticky while the winters are short and fairly mild.
The average high temperature climbs into the low nineties, although readings in the negatives aren’t unusual. With the excess humidity, the summer days can be brutal. While the average low temperature in winter is around fifty degrees, it’s common to see conditions in the forties. Air conditioning is a necessity, and I certainly wouldn’t want to go without heating. For my home in Lakeland, the perfect solution is an electric heat pump. I like that a single unit handles year round demand, minimizing maintenance requirements and freeing up valuable space. The heat pump is compact, quiet and energy efficient. In cooling mode, operation is the same as a conventional air conditioner. The unit works by pulling heat out of the indoor air and transfers it outdoors by way of refrigerant. When the weather cools off, I switch the heat pump over to heating mode. The operation literally reverses the flow of refrigerant. The unit gathers readily available ambient heat from the outdoor air, compresses it to a higher temperature and supplies it indoors. Because there is no combustion process to create heate, there are no concerns with hot surfaces, fumes, carbon monoxide or greenhouse gases. Heat pumps are especially environmentally friendly. While the purchase and installation is higher than a more traditional options, the system provides both heating and cooling and saves money on energy bills all year round. The higher demand on the system makes regular maintenance especially important. I’ve enrolled in a service plan with an HVAC company in Lakeland that includes two tune-ups per year.