The heat pump is a system that is designed to capture the heat that can be found in even seemingly cold air and utilize it for heating of the home.  An electric compressor pumps a refrigerant between coils located on the outside of the house and in the ductwork inside the house.  During the heating season, as the refrigerant moves from outdoors to inside, it absorbs heat and then releases it to the house air that is blown across the coils.  This warmed air is then distributed throughout the house via the ductwork.   During summers, the flow of the refrigerant reverses and the heat pump works like a conventional A/C system extracting heat from the house and discharging it to the exterior.

Considerations
During the heating season, the heat pump circulates a larger volume of lower temperature air than most people are accustomed to. A heat pump delivers air in the 90° - 100° F (32° - 38° C) range.  The outlet temperature of a warm air furnace, however, is in the 120° - 140° F (49° - 60° C) range.  So while heat pump supply temperatures may seem and feel too low, a properly designed heat pump system will actually keep the house air temperatures at acceptable levels - and at a lower cots then all-electric heating systems.  Heat pump systems, however, are only economical at moderately cold temperatures.  To handle very low temperature conditions most heat pump systems utilize electric resistance strip heating to supply supplemental heat.

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