Learn about Heat Pumps from MGE Energy Experts
Dual-fuel systems can offer efficiency and reliability.
MGE’s residential energy engineers field questions from customers about energy efficiency every day—including questions about heat pumps, which can both cool and heat your home!
How do heat pumps work?
Heat pumps are efficient because they move heat rather than generate it.
Heat pumps cool efficiently by removing heat from your home and moving it outdoors. During heating season—the opposite occurs—heat pumps move heat into your home. This movement of heat, plus the addition of refrigerants, water or antifreeze, creates a refrigeration cycle and the ability to move or "pump" heat from one space to another.
Dual-fuel heating helps ensure reliability.
Dual-fuel heating is an approach where you have a natural gas or LP furnace and a heat pump that work together. In the cold winter months, it becomes harder to move heat from the outside to the inside. In those cases, the overall efficiency of the heat pump will drop, so a dual-fuel system can be a winning combination.
Watch to hear why one customer opted for a heat pump for her family’s home.
Still have questions?
Contact MGE’s Energy Experts. Call and leave a message at 608-252-7000 (Option 3) or 1-800-245-1125, or email us at AskExperts@mge.com.
published: February 27, 2026
