Why This Window Heat Pump Is Genius

Matt Ferrell runs a great engineering focused YouTube channel called Undecided. He recently covered a uniquely designed window heat pump.

Well, there’s a new type of heat pump hitting the market that’s a little more accessible: easy to install heat pumps that sit on your window just like an AC unit. It seems so obvious when you look at it that I can’t help but wonder…why didn’t we do this earlier? And how well do they actually work and at what cost?

For markets such as New York or other applications where a centralized system or split system isn’t feasible, a window unit makes sense.

How Do Heat Pumps Work?

Wired with another great piece on heat pumps.

And here’s a crucial fact: According to the second law of thermodynamics, thermal energy only transfers from hot things to cold things; it doesn’t go the other way. So despite what you might think, the ice cubes in your drink aren’t “cooling” the liquid; the liquid is heating the ice cubes—which means it’s losing energy and getting colder, while the ice gains energy and melts.

If you really want to bend people’s brains, just share this law of physics and you will start to see the wheels turn as they try to figure that out.

Send this article whenever someone you know is curious about heat pumps and how they work.