{"id":14124,"date":"2025-08-28T23:13:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T21:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/renewable-energy\/is-a-heat-pump-the-same-as-aerothermal-differences-types-and-which-one-is-best-for-you\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T09:10:17","slug":"is-a-heat-pump-the-same-as-aerothermal-differences-types-and-which-one-is-best-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/renewable-energy\/is-a-heat-pump-the-same-as-aerothermal-differences-types-and-which-one-is-best-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a heat pump the same as aerothermal? Differences, types and which one is best for you"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When looking for a new air conditioning system, it is normal to come across the terms &#8220;heat pump&#8221; and &#8220;aerothermal&#8221; and wonder if they are the same. Although they share the same technology, there are key nuances that can make the difference in comfort, efficiency and savings. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-a-heat-pump\">What is a heat pump?<\/h2>\n\n<p>A <strong>heat pump<\/strong> is a device that transfers thermal energy from one place to another using electricity and a refrigeration circuit. It can capture heat from the <strong>air (aerothermal)<\/strong>, <strong>water (hydrothermal)<\/strong> or <strong>ground (geothermal)<\/strong>, and use it for heating, cooling or domestic hot water (DHW). <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Main types of heat pumps:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Air-to-air:<\/strong> capture heat from the outside air and transfer it to the inside air (e.g. split air conditioners with heat pump).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Air-water: they<\/strong> capture heat from the outside air and transmit it to the water of a heating circuit (radiators, underfloor heating, fan coils).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Water-water (hydrothermal):<\/strong> they use heat from groundwater or surface water<strong>.<\/strong> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Geothermal:<\/strong> they capture heat from the subsoil by means of buried probes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-aerothermal-energy\">What is aerothermal energy?<\/h2>\n\n<p><strong>Aerothermics<\/strong> is a specific type of <strong>air-to-water<\/strong> heat pump that extracts energy from the outside air to heat water for heating and DHW, and even cooling in summer.<\/p>\n\n<p>It is renewable because approximately 75% of the energy it produces comes from the air, and only 25% from electricity. This allows it to achieve <strong>SCOP of 3 to 5<\/strong>, i.e. for every 1 kWh electrical, it produces 3 to 5 kWh thermal. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"key-differences-between-heat-pumps-and-fan-heaters\">Key differences between heat pumps and fan heaters<\/h2>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Feature<\/th><th>Heat pump (general)<\/th><th>Aerothermal<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Energy source<\/strong><\/td><td>Air, water or soil<\/td><td>Outdoor air<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Type of fluid inside<\/strong><\/td><td>Air or water<\/td><td>Water<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Common uses<\/strong><\/td><td>Heating, cooling, DHW<\/td><td>Heating, cooling, DHW<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Efficiency<\/strong><\/td><td>Variable according to type and source<\/td><td>High in temperate climates<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Installation<\/strong><\/td><td>According to technology (split, centralized, etc.)<\/td><td>Requires outdoor and indoor unit with accumulator<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"advantages-and-disadvantages-of-aerothermics-vs-heat-pumps\">Advantages and disadvantages of aerothermics vs. heat pumps<\/h2>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Feature<\/th><th>Aerothermal<\/th><th>Other heat pumps (e.g. air-to-air)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Efficiency and savings<\/td><td>High efficiency and energy savings<\/td><td>Lower efficiency in continuous heating use<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Renewable energy<\/td><td>Uses renewable energy and has a low carbon footprint<\/td><td>Not always considered renewable depending on the source<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uses<\/td><td>Heating, cooling and DHW<\/td><td>Air conditioning of individual rooms<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Installation<\/td><td>Requires outdoor unit and storage space<\/td><td>Easier and more economical installation<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Cold weather performance<\/td><td>Lower performance without additional support<\/td><td>Less affected if air-to-air, but heating\/cooling only<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>DHW production<\/td><td>It does produce<\/td><td>Does not produce ACS<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"which-option-should-you-choose\">Which option should you choose?<\/h2>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If you want <strong>only air heating or cooling<\/strong> and do not need DHW \u2192 Air to air heat pump.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you are looking for <strong>heating, cooling and DHW<\/strong> with a single equipment, and you have space \u2192 Aerotermia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you have access to <strong>water wells or land for probes<\/strong> and budget \u2192 Hydrothermal or geothermal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"real-examples-and-consumption-with-aerothermics-or-heat-pumps\">  Real examples and consumption with aerothermics or heat pumps<\/h2>\n\n<p>In Girona, a 120 m\u00b2 house with aerothermal energy (SCOP 4) can spend about <strong>60 \u20ac\/month in temperate zone<\/strong> or <strong>90 \u20ac\/month in cold zone<\/strong>, compared to more than 180 \u20ac with gasoil.<\/p>\n\n<p>In short, <strong>all aerothermal is a heat pump, but not all heat pumps are aerothermal<\/strong>. If you are looking for a balance between savings, comfort and sustainability,<a href=\"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/fr\/services\/aerothermie\/\"> aerothermal is the most complete option for most homes in Girona<\/a> and areas with similar climate. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although many people use &#8220;heat pump&#8221; and &#8220;aerothermal&#8221; as if they were the same, they are not. We explain their differences, what types exist, how much they consume and how to choose the system that best suits your home. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-renewable-energy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17831,"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14124\/revisions\/17831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fotovol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}