Definition of Heat Pump

Heat Pump

A device which uses compression and decompression of gas to heat and/or cool a house.

Forced Air Heating

A common form of heating with natural gas, propane, oil or electricity as a fuel. Air is heated in the furnace and distributed through a set of metal ducts to various areas of the house.

Radiant Heat

A heating system which uses hot water, steam pipes or electric resistance coils to heat the floors, walls or the ceilings of a room.

A/C Condenser

The outside fan unit of the air conditioning system. It removes the heat from the freon gas, "turns" the gas back into a liquid, and pumps the liquid back to the coil in the furnace.

Air Space

The area between insulation facing and interior of exterior wall coverings. Normally a 1" air gap.

Central Air Conditioning

A system which uses ducts to distribute cooling and/or dehumidified air to more than one room or uses pipes to distribute chilled water to heat exchangers in more than one room, and which is not plugged into an electrical convenience outlet.

Radiant Barrier

A radiant barrier is a reflective surface, on or near a building component, that intercepts the flow of radiant energy to and from the building component.

Radiant Barrier System

A radiant Barrier System (RBS) is a building section that includes a radiant barrier facing an air space.

Medical Information Bureau

This organization was established in 1902. The Medical Information Bureau (M.I.B.) is a non-profit association of life insurance companies. Its purpose is to detect and deter fraud by providing warnings called, alerts, to member companies. For example, if an insurance applicant advised one insurance company of a heart attack and then applied to another insurance company omitting this history, codes, reported by the first insurance company, indicating a heart attack would alert the second insurance company to the undisclosed history. It is a rarity, however, that the alert is the only notice of a specific medical impAirement as most applicants completely disclose their history.

Structured Settlement

Historically, damages paid out during settlement of personal physical injury cases were distributed in the form of a lump-sum cash payment to the plaintiff. This windfall was intended to provide for a lifetime of medical and income needs. The claimant or his/her family was then forced into the position of becoming the manager of a large sum of money.
In an effort to create a more financially stable arrangement for the claimant, the Structured settlement was developed. A Structured settlement is an alternative to a lump sum cash payment in the resolution of personal physical injury, wrongful death, or workers’ compensation cases. The settlement usually consists of two components: an up-front cash payment to provide for immediate needs and a series of future periodic payments which are funded by the defendant’s purchase of one or more annuity policies. Those payors make payments directly to the claimant. In the unfortunate event of the claimant’s death, a guaranteed portion of the settlement may be directed to a beneficiary or his/her estate.
A Structured settlement is a guaranteed source of funds paid to the claimant or his/her family on a tax-free basis.

Viatical Settlement

A dictionary meaning for the word viatica is "the eucharist as given to a dying person or to one in danger of death". In the context of Viatical settlement it means the selling of one's own life insurance policy to another in exchange for an immediate percentage of the death benefit. The person or in many cases, group of persons buying the rights to the policy have high expectation of the imminent death of the previous owner. The sooner the death of the previous owner, the higher the profit. Consumer knowledge about this subject is poor and little is known about the entities that fund the companies that purchase policies. People should be very careful when considering the sale of their policy, and they should remember a sale of their life insurance means some group of strangers now owns a contract on their life. If a senior finds it difficult to pay for an insurance policy it might be a better choice to request that current beneficiaries take over the burden of paying the premium. The practice selling personal life insurance policies common in the United States and is spilling over into Canada. It would appear to have a definite conflict with Canada's historical view of 'insurable interest'.

Asset

All things of value owned by an individual or organization.

Premium Offset

After premiums have been paid for a number of years, further annual premiums may be paid by the current dividends and the surrender of some of the paid-up additions which have built up in the policy. In effect, the policy can begin to pay for itself. Whether a policy becomes eligible for premium offset, the date on which it becomes eligible and whether it remains eligible once premium offset begins, will all depend on how the dividend scale changes over the years. Since dividends are not guaranteed, premium offset cannot be guaranteed either.

Gross Household Income

Gross household income is the total salary, wages, commissions and other assured income, before deductions, by all household members who are co-applicants for the mortgage.

Townhouse

One of a row of houses connected with common side walls.

Air Space

The area between insulation facing and interior of exterior wall coverings. Normally a 1" Air gap.

Area Walls

Corrugated metal or concrete barrier walls installed around a basement window to hold back the earth.

Bonus Room

A room with no specifically designated function, unlike a living room, bedroom, or kitchen. Is not included in the initial square footage.

Central Air Conditioning

A system which uses ducts to distribute cooling and/or dehumidified Air to more than one room or uses pipes to distribute chilled water to heat exchangers in more than one room, and which is not plugged into an electrical convenience outlet.

Electrical Rough

Work performed by the electrical Contractor after the plumber and heating contractor are complete with their phase of work. Normally all electrical wires, and outlet, switch, and fixture boxes are installed (before insulation).

Electrical Service Panel

Refers to the high-voltage electrical system's first point of entry into a home beyond the meter.

Electricity

Provides power for lighting, appliances, and heating & cooling in a home. A meter records usage for billing by your local utility.

Foil-Faced Vapor Retarder

Created by coating a foil-backed paper with a thin layer of asphalt adhesive. The coated side of the foil-backed paper is then applied to the un-faced insulation material. The asphalt adhesive bonds the foil-backed paper and the insulation together.

High Voltage System

See electricity.

Inset Staple

Stapling to the inside portion of the stud or rafter.

aterial used to cover the interior framed areas of walls and ceilings

Low-Voltage System

Provides security, entertainment, communications, environmental control, networking, and other functions generally powered by a signal cable, phone line or data cable. Is not typically metered.

Metal Flue

A metal channel through which hot Air, gas, steam or smoke may pass.

Metal Insulation Support

16" or 24" wire rod or crisscrossed wire to hold floor insulation in place.

Radiant Barrier System

A Radiant Barrier system (RBS) is a building section that includes a radiant barrier facing an Air space.

Reflective Insulation System

Reflective Insulation system is formed by a combination of low emittance surfaces and Air spaces that provide reflective cavities, which have low levels of radiant energy transmission.

Walk Through

A final inspection of a home before "closing" to look for and document problems that need to be corrected.

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