When it comes to home comfort, many homeowners know that heat pumps are the most advanced, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems they can purchase.

According to the Trane Home Comfort Institute, however, there are just as many homeowners who are badly misinformed about heat pumps and their operation.

To help ensure that you're not one of the latter, the Trane Home Comfort Institute offers the following list of common heat pump misconceptions and their realities:

At one time that may have been true, but not any more.

During the seventies, when they first came into prominence, many heat pumps were installed in the southern sections of the country. The reason was that during the heating season, a heat pump's efficiency increases on mild days and decreases on cold days. The efficiency rating or Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF) is therefore higher in a mild climate than in a region where winters are severe.

Through the years, however, improvements in design have broadened the geographical range of heat pumps to almost every section of the country. Today, you'll find heat pumps in Augusta, Maine, as well as Augusta, Georgia.

Not in terms of the end result, which is a warm, comfortable home.

In its heating mode, the temperature of the air supplied by a heat pump is not as hot as the air supplied by a furnace. Air entering a room from a heat pump is normally about 100 degrees Fahrenheit compared to about 120 to 130 degrees F from a furnace.

Thus, a heat pump warms a room gradually and more uniformly than a furnace. It's similar to slowly warming your bath water by turning the hot water faucet to a moderately warm setting rather than turning the faucet all the way to maximum hot and then turning if off and having water cool down.

Judging by their name, you might think that's the case. However, heat pumps got their name because they pump heat into your home in winter and out of your home in summer. Thus, they function like a furnace during the winter and a central air conditioner during the summer. This ability to both heat and cool makes them very economical and efficient home comfort systems.

Definitely not. Heat pumps can also be installed in older, existing homes, especially if they already have a forced-air heating system, suitable ductwork and adequate insulation.

In these cases, all that's required is the addition of an indoor coil on the furnace, refrigerant lines and the proper thermostat. In addition, heat pumps can work with any forced-air heating system ... gas, oil, propane or electric.

If you're still uncertain about heat pumps and their operation, the Trane Home Comfort Institute recommends you contact your local heating and cooling contractor. He can help dispel any other misconceptions you have and recommend the best system for you.