Heat pumps have become a buzzword. So how exactly do they work?

As a tool in a larger strategy to electrify everything in our homes, heat pumps are a key part of fighting climate change.

Last year, heat pumps outsold gas furnaces in the U.S. for the first time. As a tool in a strategy to electrify everything in our homes—from cars to stoves to hot water heaters—they’re a key part of fighting climate change. New government incentives are making them cheaper to buy. But many people still haven’t used one yet. To learn more about how they work, we turned to Rewiring America (a nonprofit so obsessed with the technology that it sent a character called “Mr. Heat Pump” to lobby in Washington, D.C. last year) and Redwood Energy, a company that specializes in zero net energy buildings.

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