The cost of heating and cooling our homes has risen for many American families, primarily thanks to warmer summers but occasionally because of more severe winter storms. Walking around town, we might see neighbors adding insulation, planting shade trees, maybe even planting vegetation on their roof. But as our HVAC costs grow, the big switch many homeowners are making is to heat pumps, those big box fans sitting alongside their home.
What’s so great about heat pumps?
The system is a super efficient version of the old reverse-cycle air conditioner, similar also to a fridge or freezer. When used for space heating, a compressor on the outside of the unit compresses a gas, heating it. Then it’s routed to the inside of the unit, allowed to expand, cool, and give off heat to the space around it. The coolant is then recirculated back to the outside compressor. The process works in reverse when it’s used for cooling. Either way, the unit is almost silent, making less noise than an air conditioner.
Today’s super-efficient heat pumps use half as much energy on average as other electric home-heating sources, even less for oil, natural gas, or propane heating systems. That’s because heat pumps need only to move heat, not generate it by burning a fuel source. For each watt of electricity the unit draws, a heat pump puts out two, sometimes four watts of heat.
No wonder that, across the USA, there are now more heat pumps sold annually than traditional furnaces.
Costs
Air-source heat pumps are not cheap. Average installed costs range from $7,000 to $15,000. That’s depending of course on size, the need for ducting, the quality of the unit, and other factors which raise or lower the cost of the project. Annual maintenance costs should be around $150.
But the big influence on installation costs is the level of rebates, interest-free loans, and other incentives available. Start with the $2,000 federal tax credit. Some states offer state tax credits. There are also big cash rebates available. The Inflation Reduction Act offers a 100% rebate of up to $8,000 for households making below 80% of the area median income. Households making 80-150% of that income level are eligible for a 50% rebate.
In addition, there’s a wide variety of other financial incentives - state, county, and local - depending on location. A quick visit to a local HVAC contractor - or just reading the sign on their truck - can tell us a lot.
Problems
Once, the big knock on air-source heat pumps was that they didn’t work well in subfreezing weather. But today the technology has beaten that rap. Over 100,000 heat pumps have been installed, for instance, in Maine homes and businesses. In new homes across the state they’re now more common than oil heat.
One permanent disadvantage: heat pumps need electricity to operate. When the power goes down, so does the heat pump. Of course a power outage will disable a lot of oil or gas systems as well.
And then there are aesthetics. To some people, those fan boxes and ducting on the houses down their street look like the Millennium Falcon.
I love that picture of you and Buddy!
Hope you guys are happy with your move and cozy in your new home!
Thanks for this very solid, useful overview, David!