HOW DO PACKAGED UNITS WORK?
The operation of packaged units varies based on their configuration, but they generally heat and cool your home similarly to their stand-alone counterparts.

- Packaged Air Conditioners: These units house the compressor, coils, and air handler in a single cabinet. Besides providing cool air, they offer limited heating using an electric strip heater.
- Packaged Heat Pumps: These systems utilize heat pump technology to cool and heat your home, all within a single package.
- Packaged Gas-Electric Units: These combine the functionality of an air conditioner and a gas-powered furnace within one cabinet, offering both cooling and heating.
- Packaged Dual-Fuel Systems: These units incorporate a heat pump and a gas furnace. The system optimizes the heating source depending on the weather conditions, using the heat pump for milder conditions and the gas furnace for colder temperatures.
The ductwork for a single cabinet packaged unit differs slightly from that of stand-alone systems. It connects directly to the packaged unit rather than to separate components throughout your home.

Packaged Unit – Cooling Component
- Refrigerant Cycle: Powered by electricity, the unit’s internal components circulate the refrigerant.
- Air Intake: A fan pulls in warm air, passes it over the cold evaporator coil, cooling the air.
- Air Distribution: The cooled and dehumidified air is pushed through the ductwork to various spaces inside your home.

Packaged Unit – Heating Component
- Packaged Air Conditioners: Besides their standard cooling function, packaged air conditioners can also provide limited heating through heat strip elements. Using electricity, these heat strips warm up, and as air flows over them, they get heated. The warm air is then distributed through the ductwork to raise the interior temperature of your home. This heating method is primarily used in warmer climates where heating is needed only occasionally.
- Packaged Heat Pumps: These systems heat your home by reversing the refrigeration cycle typically used for cooling. During this process, the indoor coils become warm through cycles of evaporation and condensation. Air is then pushed over these heated coils and blown through the ductwork, increasing the temperature in the interior rooms of your home.
- Packaged Gas-Electric: The heating component in a packaged gas-electric system is a gas furnace. It operates by combusting natural gas or propane inside the heat exchanger, generating heat. Cool air from the interior is drawn in through the return ducting and blown over the hot heat exchanger by the blower motor, warming the air. This warm air is then circulated throughout the home via the ductwork.
- Packaged Dual-Fuel: A dual-fuel packaged system offers two heating options: a heat pump and a gas furnace. When properly installed and configured, the system can determine the most economical heating method—electricity or gas. For moderate heating needs, the heat pump reverses its operation from cooling to heating mode. When temperatures drop further, the system switches to the gas furnace to provide reliable and consistent heat.

Benefits
- Space Efficiency: Packaged units are ideal for situations where indoor space is limited, as all components of the heating and cooling system are contained in a single location, unlike split-system units.
- Energy-Efficient Performance: Amana® brand packaged units provide energy-efficient heating and cooling, with cooling performance rated at 13 SEER or higher. Additionally, our packaged gas/electric units offer an 80% AFUE heating performance, ensuring efficient operation year-round.