The coefficient of performance or COP (sometimes CP) of a heat pump is the ratio of the heating or

cooling provided over the electrical energy consumed. The COP was created to compare heat pump
systems according to their energy efficiency.

A level of performance that describes a process that uses the lowest amount of inputs to create the
greatest amount of outputs. Efficiency relates to the use of all inputs in producing any given output,
including personal time and energy.

COP of Heat Pump = 1 + COP of the Refrigerator

The COP of the refrigerator and air-conditioner can be less than one or greater than one. The above
formula also shows that the COP of the heat pump can never be less than one; it is always more than
one.

Its says how effectively the refrigerator or air conditioner is working. The function of the refrigerator and
AC is to move the heat from the low temperature reservoir to the high temperature reservoir (against
the law of thermodynamics that says that heat flows from high temp. to low temp.). The COP says how
effectively the refrigerator or AC performs this function. It says the amount of power required by the
machine to move certain quantity of h

rom low temp. to high temp.

The efficiency is related with automobile engines, boilers etc that produce power from the fuel. They
convert energy from one form to the other, while refrigerator moves the energy from low temp. to high
temp. So the efficiency says how effectively the machine is converting the energy from fuel to the
power.

The COP can be more that one since the heat transferred can be more than power required by the
refrigerator but the efficiency can never be more than one since the power generated by engine cannot
be more than the total heat content of the fuel.

There are two type of devices, energy converters and energy transfering devices. The efficiency of a heat
(energy) transfering devices is called the coefficient of performance (COP) unlike the energy conversion
devices. COP is also the ratio of Energy Output to the Energy Input like the energy efficiency.
In an energy converter, the output will be a portion of the energy input and it may be less than the
energy input. Therefore, the efficiency will be less than 100% by the laws of thermodynamics. In an
energy transfer device, the energy output is the amount of heat extracted from the heat source (Space
to be cooled-in case of refrigeration). The extracted energy is not a portion of the input energy. The
extracted energy can exceed the input energy. Therefore, the efficiency of an energy transfering devices
can be higher than 100% without violating the first law of thermodynamics. Therefore, the name
coefficient of performance.