Getting Ready: Stay warm this winter with heat pumps
Now that the leaves have fallen and temperatures are dipping below freezing, it’s time to think about staying warm. Maybe it’s not a pleasant prospect given the higher costs of heating fuels, but with a little planning, you can be assured that you are making sound choices for this winter and on into the future.
We have a unique heating profile here in Maine. According to the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, nearly 50 % of Maine residences are heated with heating oil, more than any other state; 15 % of residences are heated with propane, so we are tied for the highest state percentage; and only 18% of residences are heated with natural gas. Only two states have lower natural gas percentages, Florida, and Hawaii. In a nutshell, we are heavily dependent on expensive fossil fuels - oil and propane - and have limited access to the less expensive fossil fuel, natural gas. In general, it is much more expensive to heat a home in Maine compared to a home with a similar heating load in any other state.
We feel the expense every winter, and we supplement our expensive primary heating systems to stay warm without going broke. According to the Residential Energy Consumption Survey, approximately 60% of Maine residences use supplemental heating, so here again, we take the number one spot in the country for use of supplemental heating.
Given our unique and expensive heating profile, it’s not surprising that Maine is poised to lead New England in the electrification of heating, or in other words, transitioning or supplementing our expensive fossil fuel systems with air-source heat pumps. Air source heat pumps are less expensive to operate, more efficient, and cleaner than even the most efficient oil and propane systems. What makes air-source heat pumps even more enticing is that they also serve as air-conditioners in the summer.
ISO-New England, the independent, not-for-profit corporation responsible for keeping electricity flowing across the six New England states and ensuring that the region has reliable, and competitively priced electricity into the future, forecasts that by 2030 slightly more than 40% of homes in Maine will have an air source heat pump, compared to only 23% projected for Massachusetts, 11% for New Hampshire and 4% for Connecticut. Obviously, the disparity has to do with the abundance of “cheap heat” or natural gas in these states and the relatively expensive electricity rates. In New England, the cost to heat with an air-source heat pump is slightly lower or on par with natural gas. Conversely, the cost to heat with a heat pump is about half the cost of heating oil, and one-third the cost of propane. Please check out Efficiency Maine’s tool to compare home heating costs for more details.
Getting ReadyEfficiency Maine offers rebate opportunities to save energy and money
No one is recommending that Mainers immediately replace a modern propane or oil furnace with a heat pump as soon as possible, but it is a good time to supplement your primary heating system with a single heat pump to keep heating costs down, or to plan for a whole-home primary heating system replacement if your current heating system is approaching the end or its expected service life.
Beginning in 2023, the High Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program for Low to Middle Income (LMI) residents, a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act, will provide up to an $8,000 tax credit for installing a heat pump and $4,000 for upgrades to the load service center (electric panel). Of course, there are limits to credits based on income eligibility. Whether you qualify for a large tax credit or are poised to receive the state-level rebates, you can still heat for a fraction of the cost of oil and propane! Heat pumps are cheaper to operate, more efficient, quiet, cleaner, and of course “cooler” than traditional fossil fuel heating. To find a licensed heat pump installer, please see the Efficiency Maine vendor locator.
Please consider joining York Ready for Climate Action and taking steps to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.
York Ready for Climate Action is a grassroots citizens’ organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the causes and effects of climate change and advancing environmentally friendly and inclusive policies and behaviors. Volunteers are welcome. For more information see yorkreadyforclimateaction.org, or email info@yorkreadyforclimateaction.org. Information about EcoHOMES is on the same site.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Getting Ready: Stay warm this winter with heat pumps
