air cond.vs heat pump

“for calif.” Does anyone know a quick way of telling air cond. and heat pumps apart? Please keep in mind I’am new at this.

Look for an accumulator and a reversing valve in the unit near the compressor.

OK, got it blaine. Thank you so much!

thanks Blaine!

Take a quick look at the thermostat inside and if you see an “emergeny heat” switch… that’s a heat pump.

I have seen too many straight A/C units installed with heat pump thermostats to go by that rule!

I was thinking that as I was typing. Yes, it’s a tip-off but you do need to look further for sure.

If I’m not mistaken, the AC will have a large and a small pipe, where the heat pump will have the same size pipes. I did find this site with some good diagrams. www.dhclimatecontrol.com/hp.htm

Turn on the heat and feel the big pipe.

If it’s hot, it’s a Heat Pump.