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What’s a heat pump, and why should you consider replacing your gas furnace with one? Here’s what I learned when we decided to check out this new energy-efficient technology for heating and cooling your home.
What’s a heat pump? Heat pumps are basically air conditioning units that can both heat and cool your house. Air conditioners work by pulling the heat from your home and blowing it into the outside air. Heat pumps do that too in the summertime, and they also do the opposite – pulling heat out of the outside air and blowing it into your house to heat it in the wintertime.
By contrast, what you probably have in your home right now is a gas furnace, which heats your home by burning natural gas and blowing the heated air through ductwork and out through vents in all the rooms in your house.
Heat pumps can use that existing ductwork to disperse warm or cool air throughout your house, or if you prefer, you can choose what’s called a “ductless mini split” system, which ignores your existing ductwork and instead uses separate wall or floor units in each room that are connected directly to the outside heat pump unit. (More on that below.)
Why is this considered more environmentally friendly than a traditional gas furnace? Heat pumps are the more environmentally responsible choice for several reasons. The big one is energy efficiency: heat pumps are considered to be up to 4 times more efficient than gas furnaces. If you live in an area where your electricity is supplied through a community choice aggregator that offers a 100% renewable energy option (as is the case in San Mateo County with Peninsula Clean Energy), using a heat pump means that you’ll be heating and cooling your house entirely free of fossil fuels. Finally, burning natural gas causes toxic emissions inside your home, including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and nitrous oxides.
Who should consider installing a heat pump? You should consider a heat pump if you need to replace your aging gas furnace, if you’re considering installing air conditioning, or if you’re remodeling your house. You’ll need to change your HVAC system or upgrade your electric panel.
For my family, the opportunity to switch to a heat pump came after this winter’s storms, which damaged the ductwork underneath our house and caused us to think about replacing our 24-year-old gas furnace while we were at it. In addition, the second floor of our house has never been connected to the house’s HVAC system (probably because of the under-the-house ductwork), and while it’s comfortable enough in the winter, that second story gets very hot in the summer, so this seemed like a good opportunity to get air conditioning up there.
What are the rebates and incentives out there? This is the fun part! There are various rebates, tax incentives and so on available, some of them from the US government, some from state or local agencies and jurisdictions. In San Mateo County, Peninsula Clean Energy offers a $3,500 rebate and a 0% interest loan for up to $10,000 if you switch to a heat pump from a gas furnace, and the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) offers up to $1,000 cash back on top of that. The city of Redwood City also offers a $500 rebate for switching to a heat pump and an additional $500 if you need to upgrade your electrical panel. There are also tax incentives available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act. The San Mateo County Office of Sustainability recommends checking out The Switch Is On, a statewide project of the Building Decarbonization Coalition in partnership with BayREN, Peninsula Clean Energy, and 10 other agencies, to help you find all the rebates and incentives out there.
What’s it actually like having a heat pump system in the house? Here’s where I can be extra helpful because due to the situation I described above where the ductwork in our house doesn’t extend to the second floor, we decided to get two separate systems – one that connects to an air handler unit inside the furnace room and blows the warm air through the ductwork just like our old furnace did, and also a separate ductless mini split wall unit for the upstairs. So I can tell you that both of these systems work great! They heat and cool the house quickly, and they are extremely quiet. As for which one you should choose, that probably depends on your own needs. If you want to be able to have different rooms at different temperatures, ductless mini splits are best – for example, you might want to save energy by turning off the units in rarely-used rooms and keeping the doors closed. But if you don’t like the look of having mini split units on the walls in every room, maybe a heat pump that connects to your ductwork is right for you.
Why isn’t everyone rushing out to get a heat pump installed? The most significant barrier to getting a heat pump is undoubtedly the high initial cost. Heat pumps almost always cost more than traditional gas furnaces. However, the rebates bring the cost down a lot, and depending on your own needs and what model and installer you choose, you could end up paying less for a heat pump than a gas furnace. Although the energy savings over time means the heat pump system will pay for itself eventually, not everyone can afford the initial cost.
To learn more about heat pumps and other ways to make your home more sustainable, check out Sustain-A-Palooza!, a free online event on Friday, July 21st, from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. See the agenda at tinyurl.com/S-a-P23Agenda; register at tinyurl.com/S-a-Plooza23.
Have you switched to a heat pump system? Tell me in the comments!
