The Split-System heat pump supplies efficient heating and cooling for your home. This is achievable because a heat pump moves free solar heat as opposed to producing it from a energy resource. The hot air that is exhausted from the backside of your refrigerator is not heat produced, but heat being transferred from inside to the outside. The process with a heat pump is the same and it is reversed depending on the season.
The triple-function heat pump not only warms and cools your home, it also heats water by means of the use of a "desuperheater" by extracting heat from the bodies refrigerant and using it to heat water get it now. This feature can provide essentially free water heating during the summer and a lot more efficient use of energy for heating water in the winter.
Split-systems are much better since the interior unit is smaller and the majority of the noise is on the exterior. Also you don't have to empty water from the inside component due to the evaporator being on the exterior unit.
A drawback of this system compared with a package unit is that space is needed for the exterior unit. This may be difficult on multi-level houses, townhouses, zero lot line patio homes, etc. In contrast to a window air conditioning unit, the split system does not have an option of exchange of indoor and outdoor air. A reward is that there is only a small hole for the coolant conduit to pass between the exterior and interior units. Also, a window air conditioning unit can be easily removed by an intruder allowing a passage into your home.
You can calculate the energy cost of by examining the efficiency rating [http://www.trustmybuilder.com/634/split-system-heat-pump-efficiency/] of a particular model and plugging in the rate your current provider is charging you. Also since these heat pumps are high efficiency, the IRS allows you a nice tax credit.