Heating & Cooling Efficiently with Heat Pumps

Managing the temperature in a home or business has the hands-down biggest impact on energy costs in trying to keep your home comfortable.
 
While this outlay can be trimmed by tweaking efficiency, some folks have taken it a step further and installed heat pumps, highly efficient devices that can provide both heating and cooling comfort.
 
As the name implies, heat pumps simply move heat from one place to another. During winter months, they collect and consolidate heat from outside sources and move it inside; during summer months, they reverse the flow and send warm, indoor air out.
 
The most common type is an air-source heat pump that resembles an air-conditioning unit and uses the air around it to transfer heat. Geothermal heat pumps, also known as ground source heat pumps, use the earth itself or groundwater as a means of transferring heat.
 
When replacing an electric heating system, air-source heat pumps can trim the amount of electricity needed for heating by as much as 30% to 40%. Although a typical high-efficiency, ENERGY STAR-qualified air-source heat pump comes with a substantial $6,000 price tag, it’s estimated that energy savings will offset the purchase price within five years.
 
Geothermal heat pumps come in two types: a groundwater (open-loop) system uses well water; an earth-coupled (closed-loop) model moves a water and antifreeze solution through underground pipes. They can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $40,000 for an average home—excavation, installation of underground pipes, and (with a groundwater heat pump) well drilling accounts for much of the price tag. But annual geothermal energy savings average between 30% and 71%, provide fairly rapid payback. Even better, ENERGY STAR versions use up to 60% less energy than their standard air-source counterparts.
 
Heat pumps—whether they’re geothermal or air-source—can be tricky to put in. A good rule of thumb is to get a North American Technician Excellence [NATE]-certified installer.
 Air-source heat pumps work at maximum efficiency in moderate climates where the outside temperature rarely drops below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Although cold-climate heat pumps are under development, members in our climate might want to consider a dual fuel system where an oil, natural gas, or propane furnace supplements the heat pump during the coldest months.”

For more information on heat pumps, visit the following websites:
Heat Pump Reference Guide
https://crn.cooperative.com/Results/items/2008/CRNResults_05-18B.htm
Best Practices in Energy Efficiency
https://crn.cooperative.com/Results/items/2006/CRNResult_06-17.htm

Sources: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association; Cooperative Research Network; OIT Geo-Heat Center; U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy