A regular heat pump is a less dramatic alternative to a geothermal heat pump – you don’t need a large yard and you don’t need to dig a lot in it.
Whether you should buy one depends a lot on where you live, as they perform better in milder climates.
Unlike furnaces, heat pumps do not generate heat to warm a home.They transfer heat from outside into your home.As a result, heat pumps are far more efficient than furnaces and can reduce electricity use for heating by 50 percent, according to the Department of Energy.
In recent months, home sustainability experts and the federal government have been promoting heat pumps as a way to combat climate change and reduce energy consumption.Late last year, Vice President Harris said the government would work with private companies to “drive innovation in electric heat pumps.”
According to the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership, heat pumps have the potential to save the average U.S. household about $459 a year, about $948 a year when they switch from a resistance heating system, and about $948 a year when they switch from an oil system.
Heat pumps use electricity as their only source of fuel, creating significant opportunities to reduce carbon emissions compared to traditional gas-fired heating equipment.
Heat pumps are an important part of the U.S. response to the climate crisis, said David Nemtzow, director of the Building Technologies Office in the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.These systems reduce exposure to indoor air pollution because homeowners do not burn natural gas or fuel oil, so there are no carbon monoxide or nitrous oxide emissions in the air.
As climate change leads to increasingly extreme and dangerous weather, these devices can play another important role: keeping people comfortable and safe in their homes, even in the harshest conditions.
“Every air conditioner you know is a heat pump,” Nemtzow said.”They take heat out of the house, it’s so hot in the summer, and they take it out and pour it outside.”
About half of all U.S. households use natural gas to heat water and rooms, cook meals and dry clothes.Instead of burning natural gas, fuel oil or propane to generate heat during the colder months, heat pumps transfer heat from outside and pump it into the home.
“I don’t know if I’m asking for trouble, but if you live in the mid-Atlantic region, especially Illinois, and you had a heat pump 30 years ago, you might Think of it in winter,” Nemzo said.
But newer heat pumps have quieter variable-speed motors that transfer heat by circulating refrigerant through the evaporation and condensation cycles.
Even at low temperatures, the refrigerant helps absorb heat from the outside air and transfer it to the indoor air, Nemtzow said.
Still, the refrigerants used in heat pumps aren’t as bad for the climate as they should be, said Charles Cormany, executive director of Efficiency First California, a nonprofit trade group representing California energy efficiency and clean energy contractors. friendly.”Technology is moving away from these high greenhouse gas (greenhouse gas) potential refrigerants to safer alternatives like carbon dioxide, but the transition will take some time,” he said.
Christopher Roth, CEO of the National Technical Institute, a trade school with campuses in the Las Vegas and Phoenix area that provides training for HVAC, plumbing and electrical careers , he said heat pumps are typically not used as a replacement for space heating in experienced areas during below freezing periods.
“If the outside coil is below 32 degrees and there’s moisture in the air, we’ll end up with ice on it,” he said.”The colder it gets outside, the more it needs to go through a defrost cycle, which makes the heat pump less and less efficient.”
As an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners, heat pumps perform best in mild climates.The technology provides two to four times as much thermal energy as the electricity it consumes.
“Natural gas obviously produces carbon dioxide,” Ross said.”From a climate change perspective, that’s what everyone cares about. There’s this conversation going on right now, hey, maybe we’re turning to heat pumps to get rid of the inefficient furnace output. When you’re burning fuel, it’s not 100% Effective, so we end up with a by-product.”
In a Sun Belt state like Arizona, many areas don’t have gas pipelines, so a gas stove isn’t always an option.In many cases, a heat pump is the logical choice.
“Phoenix is ​​a good example,” Nemzo said.”Phoenix has mild winters. But 80 percent of Phoenix’s market is for heat pumps, not alternative energy sources for heating.”
Bob Robbins has been involved in site improvements for custom home builders as construction manager and project engineer for the Phoenix Underground Improvement Project.
Some subdivisions have gas, which is how traditional furnaces operate, but within half a mile another home will be without gas, he said.In this case, a heat pump is the only option for heating and cooling.
When Robbins bought his three-story home in Phoenix, two heat pumps were included in the air conditioner.
“I’m happy with my home, but a heat pump isn’t my first choice,” he said.”If we have gas available in our home and it’s time to replace the air conditioning unit, I’d much rather use a conventional air conditioner and a separate furnace that can be heated with natural gas.”
Robbins said that if the temperature is in the 60s and it’s wet and cold, or in the 50s during a cold period in Phoenix, then his home won’t warm up as quickly because of the heat pump.
“But in a few hours, the room temperature will rise to 75 to 78 degrees and you’ll be fine,” he said.”However, when you do that, you’re basically running the same thing as in summer, which is air conditioning. So to me, it’s a more expensive way to heat your house. But luckily, in Phoenix, because of where we are, we don’t really need it.”
Phoenix-area plumbing contractor TJ Perkins also observed that many of the custom homes in the rural area where he lives have heat pumps.
About five years ago, Perkins decided to install a heat pump in his ranch-style home, and he was happy with the system.”It does the job,” he said.
According to Cormany, in areas without sufficient infrastructure to support natural gas, the use of heat pumps is driven by necessity rather than choice.He said he believed the heat pump was clearing the way for a promising future with no on-site greenhouse gas emissions.
“The real advantage of heat pumps is that they can be over 100 percent efficient,” he said, adding that heat pumps used for space heating are between 200 and 300 percent efficient.
Newer heat pumps in Japan are significantly more efficient.”They can be 200 to 500 percent more efficient than gas furnaces,” Cormany said.“The most efficient gas furnaces would be where they are now, which is 98 percent efficient, because any time there is a combustion process there is waste. Gas furnaces are never going to be 100 percent efficient. It’s not physically possible. ”
The disadvantage of heat pumps in some areas is the cost of the fuel source.”In parts of California, for example, where electricity is expensive, natural gas is cheap, and heat pumps don’t take a pencil,” Cormany said.”In areas with low electricity prices, or when paired with solar panels, they are the solution of choice.”
More and more utilities are offering incentives for energy-efficient products such as heat pumps.Nemtzow describes the effort as a massive coordinated movement.
“In my world, it’s very exciting,” he added.”What we’re asking is when that furnace starts shaking, it breaks and it needs to be replaced, we want people to look at the heat pump. Once they look, we think they’ll go for the heat pump.”
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