Typically, with any piece of technology, you pump one unit of energy in and you get about one out. That’s just the first law of thermodynamics: energy has to be conserved. But there’s a piece of technology called a heat pump, where for every bit of energy you put in, you get three to five times as much heat out. What wizardry is this?

Dig into the science of how heat pumps both heat and cool a home, and find out the benefits and drawbacks of this technology.

[TED Ed]