Electric heat pumps – home appliances that provide both heating and cooling – are surging in popularity in North America and Europe, and with good reason. They can replace traditional air conditioners, furnaces, boilers, and inefficient baseboard heaters. They’re also better for the planet, your health, and your wallet.
Yet with all the information out there (including some misinformation care of certain fossil fuel companies) it can feel challenging to cut through the noise and find out what will work best for your home.
We’ve reviewed government, consumer, and environmental research to help you be informed and empowered to make the switch to a heat pump in your home.
–
What is a heat pump?
There are lots of different kinds of heat pumps – you may hear things like ducted heat pumps, mini-splits, or even geothermal systems. But at its core, a heat pump works like a fancy air conditioner, using electricity and a reversible valve to transfer heat from one place to another.
During hotter weather, it expels heat from the house, and in winter, it draws heat inside. And yes – despite what you may have read – they work just as well in cold temperatures. In fact, a standard heat pump can absorb heat in temperatures as low as -4℃ (25℉) and transfer it indoors.
A cold weather specific heat pump can heat your home comfortably in outdoor temperatures down to -26℃ (-15℉) or below – just ask the 4,400 people in Juneau, Alaska (pop. 31,000) or the 60% of buildings in Norway that use them. And even at that low outdoor temperature they don’t stop working completely, you just may need an additional source of heat for the most frigid temperatures.
–
Top five reasons to switch to a heat pump
Changing your home heating and cooling system is no small decision. Here are the top five benefits of switching to a heat pump to help guide your choices.
- Heat pumps save you money:
In Canada, a federal study found that switching from an electric furnace to a heat pump can save an average of $700 to $1900 a year in utility bills. When switching from an oil furnace, these savings increase to $1000 to $3500 a year.
In the US, the Department of Energy found that switching to a heat pump can save between $500 – $1000 annually, depending on the kind of system you had previously.
This means that – even before taking rebates and grants into consideration – a heat pump can pay for itself in about 5 – 7 years. The savings after that are just money in the bank.
– - Heat pumps come with financial incentives:
Both the US and Canadian governments are offering financial incentives to help make it more affordable to switch to a heat pump.
In Canada, the Canada Greener Homes Initiative gives you access to up to $5,000 to switch to more energy-efficient space or water heating. However, you’ll need to act fast. The deadline for starting the application process is weeks away – sometime in March – so it’s worth checking now to see if you’re eligible and would like to get your name in before the cut-off.
In the US, you are eligible for a federal tax credit that will cover 30% up to $2,000 of the heat pump cost and installation. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act includes $8.8 billion for home energy rebate programs to help low- and moderate-income households access energy efficient retrofits like heat pumps.
– - Heat pumps are better for your health:
Heat pumps can easily be equipped with filters that can improve indoor air quality by removing dust, pollen, and other pollutants like smoke from wildfires. This is of particular importance as wildfires force us to close our windows more often, which would otherwise cause a dangerous increase in the levels of indoor air pollution.
They can also function as a dehumidifier, reducing the risk of mould and mildew growing in your house and making the air easier to breathe.
Plus, because heat pumps run on electricity instead of gas, they also significantly reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
– - Heat pumps are better for our planet:
Residential energy use accounts for about 20% of climate-heating pollution emitted in the U.S. Among the worst culprits are oil furnaces, which burn fossil fuels as their main source of energy, according to research University of California-Davis research.
Heat pumps on the other hand use electricity as their only fuel source. This significantly reduces climate change-fueling carbon emissions when compared with traditional gas heating appliances.
Research from Carbon Switch has shown that using a heat pump as your main heating system can reduce your household carbon footprint by anywhere from about 1 metric tonne to about 7 metric tonnes of carbon emissions every single year. To put that in perspective, if we take a number in the middle like 4 tonnes, that’s equal to removing one passenger vehicle from the road every year – just by switching to a heat pump.
– - Heat pumps are more efficient:
Heat pumps are much more energy efficient than other electric heating systems like baseboard heaters or electric furnaces. According to the US Department of Energy, a heat pump can reduce your electricity use for heating by approximately 65% compared to electric heating systems like furnaces and baseboard heaters.
In fact, because heat pumps move heat instead of creating it, they can reach levels of efficiency as high as 300 or 400 percent compared to a normal heating system. Even the very best gas furnaces, which can only hope to reach 98% efficiency at best, can’t come close.
This not only saves you money, but also keeps a huge amount of pollution from entering our atmosphere.
–
Need more information?
As you can see, there are so many reasons to make the switch to a heat pump. However, we understand that it can be hard to cut through all the information out there to figure out exactly what’s right for your household.
We can help! Send your questions about heat pumps to community@myclimateplan.com and our experts will respond with the information you need to make an empowered, informed decision.
Considering more plant-based meals?