How is airflow measured in a heat pump system?

Airflow in a heat pump system is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). This measurement quantifies the volume of air that circulates through the system in one minute, which is critical for assessing the efficiency and performance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. The flow rate must be adequate to ensure that the heat pump operates efficiently and can effectively transfer heat to or from the environment, thus maintaining desired indoor temperatures.

Understanding airflow in CFM is essential for properly sizing equipment and designing duct systems that ensure balanced airflow throughout the space. This helps prevent issues such as overheating or underheating in certain areas of a building.

Other units like pounds per square foot, British thermal units (BTUs), and liters per second are not appropriate for measuring airflow. Pounds per square foot are used to measure pressure or load, BTUs quantify energy, and liters per second would typically be used in metric systems but does not standardize airflow measurements in heating and cooling applications in the same way as CFM does.