The question of whether heat pumps also work well for cooling (in our hot summer days) in Colorado comes up a lot when we work with homeowners, so we wanted to help by answering it with this short article.
I’ll start by giving the short answer, and that that answer is Yes, but! The but part can include a few things such as:
- It must be the right equipment for your home
- It must be correctly sized for your home
- You must have good air distribution throughout your home
- and more to consider
But let’s start with answering a few questions about heat pumps that come up for starters.
What is a Heat Pump and Can It Also Do Cooling?
The answer: yes! Think of a heat pump as essentially an air conditioning system that can work both normally and in reverse. Through what’s called a reversing value in the unit, the refrigerant in the system literally changes direction and goes the opposite way.
This is what allows a heat pump to either pull heat out of your home (cooling mode) or to pull heat from outside and put it into your home to keep you warm in the winter (heating mode).
The previous sentence was worded that way because heat pumps move heat, they don’t create heat. This is also why they are so efficient.
Not only can heat pumps both heat and cool all within the same system/unit, they are extremely efficient at doing so. We install many Fujitsu H (and soon to be K) Series heat pumps, and they heat down to -15 to -20F comfortably, and in cooling mode they work well all the way up to 115F.
The technology has drastically improved these days, and now you can benefit in your home as well when you switch to these cold climate rated heat pumps.
How Do You Design for Cooling In Colorado?
Since Colorado is more of a heating State, we design first for that. This means that there is more demand from equipment in heating mode given our climate, altitude, humidity levels, and other factors specific to Colorado.
In reality, when we do our energy modeling for heat pump design, the cooling needs of your home are usually drastically lower (even at 95F+ in the summers) verses the BTU or equipment size output needed when temperatures are near 0 outside or even negative temperatures. I’ll to illustrate further below –
A Real World Example of Cooling vs. Heating Heat Pump Needs in Denver
The chart below shows the differences in cooling vs. heating needs in a home in Northwest Denver. A nice couple with a dog lives there, and their furnace was 20+ years old. They also had no A/C, and have survived through the past few summers without it, which seems to be getting hotter and hotter with each season.
You can see how much less cooling requirements for the home are vs. heating needs when energy modeling the home (more details below):
The modeling allows us to even see which components in the home account for the heating/cooling losses depending on the season.
More Context of the Denver Example Home:
The home was originally built in the 30’s, but they have done their due diligence and some energy efficiency work, which includes an energy audit first, then air sealing, wall insulation, and attic insulation upgrades.
As a starting point and with the energy improvements, this 1,850 sq ft two-level home would normally need much more in terms of BTU or heating/cooling needs.
A good solution for them included a cold climate rated heat pump that heats and cools their home throughout every season very efficiently, and without issue. Every home is different and your home would have to be specifically modeled for its individual variables and uniqueness.
Also, if you’re exploring heat pumps to either add or improve cooling options for your own home, feel free to contact us here as well.
For this home, you can see that the cooling BTU’s required when it’s 95F outside is only at 13,456. A “ton” as they call it in HVAC is 12,000 BTU’s, so total cooling needs of the home are just over 1 ton.
Heating BTU’s on the other hand, are closer to 30,000 BTU’s when it’s about 5F outside for this home. That’s about 220% more “power” needed to heat the home vs. cool it in Denver.
Things brings us to the main point – it’s typical in Denver Metro Area for cooling needs of a home to only be half or even closer to one quarter of the “power” needed to heat it.
This also means that just about any right-sized heat pump, designed correctly for heating, will have no problem cooling your home. In fact, it’s possibly even much bigger than your home needs.
Unlike a typical (and less efficient) A/C and furnace combo, you can’t have different equipment sizes within the same heat pump unit. This is why designing correctly for your home becomes so critical, and for both heating and cooling seasons alike.
Will a Heat Pump Save You Money Vs. Your Older A/C?
The short answer again is: Yes! The latest cold-climate rated heat pumps (rated for low temperatures in heating mode) are incredibly efficient. They’re built to withstand frigid negative temperatures, and have to be designed extremely efficiently to do so.
Due to their design for heating, when they reverse the cycle to turn into cooling mode, you also benefit from the extreme efficiency of the system in the summer.
Ductless mini split systems are typically a little bit more efficient than their ducted counterpart (air handler) systems, but all cold climate heat pumps these days are usually much more efficient than your older A/C system in your home.
Cooling Mode Heat Pump Energy Savings Example for Denver
Here is an example of a calculator showing the energy savings of your typical 13 SEER A/C system (which is still being put in new homes) and a 20 SEER ducted heat pump working in cooling mode in the summer.
The average Xcel Energy electricity rate is entered as 16.5 cents per kWh, and estimates the savings using a 2 ton heat pump system.
You can see that the heat pump is 35% more efficient, and saves an average of $100 per month vs. a basic A/C unit.
Is There Any Special Maintenance for Heat Pumps In the Summer?
The answer is no. You’ll want to make sure the filters are clean year round, and any properly installed heat pump should require no additional/special maintenance throughout the year and regardless of what mode it’s running in.
Are Ductless Mini Splits Good For Cooling?
Yes! They are usually more efficient than ducted units, and they work down to -15F or lower without issue in Colorado (at least the cold climate rated systems that we install do). There are many pros and cons to going ductless (mini splits, ceiling cassettes, floor units, etc), and each home is different. We would have to match up your own goals and home characteristics to answer that one.
Energy Efficiency and Rebate Resources
Here are some quick links are more articles related to adding or replacing your A/C, especially with the larger Xcel Energy Rebates going on right now:
- Xcel Energy tripled their heat pump rebates for 2025, but funds will run out at some point soon. See this article on how Xcel’s heat pump rebates work.
- Will your home not stay cool in the summer, even with the A/C on? You may have building envelope-related issues. This can be a leaky home, poor insulation in the walls and attic, and much more. Read about energy auditing here.
- Are you looking to make many efficiency or heat pump upgrades to your home soon? Be sure to learn about Xcel’s Whole Home Efficiency rebates, which are bonus rebates on top of the regular ones.
Wrapping It Up
There are more sub-topics to tackle, but I didn’t want to make this one too long. I hope this helps answer some questions about heat pumps and cooling in Colorado.
Please reach out to us with further questions, or if you’re interested in exploring heat pump (cooling or heating) options for your home.
Thanks so much!
