They’re a ‘win-win for comfort, energy bills, and the environment.’ Here’s how they work

Air-source heat pumps have become more popular in Whatcom County and some residents have taken advantage of financial incentives designed to encourage people and businesses to make the switch.

“Switching to efficient ductless heat pumps is a win-win for comfort, energy bills, and the environment. Not only do they provide electric heat at three times the efficiency of any other technology, they can help improve indoor air quality and provide cooling during our increasingly hot summers,” Emily Larson Kubiak, energy and green building manager at Sustainable Connections told The Bellingham Herald in an email.

Financial incentives to make the switch, Larson Kubiak said, include tax credits and rebates from the Inflation Reduction Act, assistance programs for low and moderate-income households and incentives from the Community Energy Challenge. Sustainable Connections is directly involved in the Community Energy Challenge.

Heat pumps are better for the environment, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, because they transfer heat rather than generate heat.

The average household in a single-family home in the United States spends about 53% of its energy-related expenditures on heating and cooling, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

There are a large variety of heat pump systems, but air-source is the most common, according to the Energy Department.

“They are extremely popular, our No. 1 selling item,” Jacob Marr, vice-president of Bellingham’s Marr’s Heating and Air Conditioning told The Herald in a telephone interview.

This wasn’t the case only a few years ago, according to Colin Matei, owner and service technician at Clean Air Heating and Cooling in Bellingham. As recently as five years ago, very few Whatcom residents wanted a heat pump, now the topic comes up at every installation.

“The last five summers, we get two or three months of straight heat. So since summers have become that consistent and that hot, they (heat pumps) have become really popular,” Matei said.

“For the last seven or eight years, we get anywhere from a few weeks to several weeks of smoke. Historically people could open a window and get a breeze and manage throughout the summer. But because of the smoke and all the health determent that brings, people cannot do that anymore. So they are getting more house air conditioners, and once they do that they may as well get a heat pump.”

Not only does a heat pump work as a heater, but it can cool a building in the summer. It works the same way as a standard air conditioning unit, Marr said. It takes the hot air in a building and pumps it outside.

Operating a heat pump costs about the same as a heater, but that may not be the case for long. Marr said he believes the price of natural gas, one of the more common furnace fuels, will continue to increase. Meanwhile, the cost to run an electric heat pump will be essentially the same.

However, a new heating and cooling unit may not be the problem.

Many people who think they need a new heater or air conditioner may actually waste their money buying a new one. The larger problem is often the air leakage of the building, along with the insulation, Matei and Marr said. It doesn’t matter how good the heater is if most of the heat is escaping through air leakage in the walls, doors and windows.

“Air tightness cannot be overlooked. You could do everything else right, and if that’s leaking, then it’s a problem,” Matei said. “Most (local) homes, even if they are five to 10 years old, leak anywhere from 10%-20% all the time. Some people buy something more efficient, and can spend a lot of money on that, and they will not see the savings.”

Heat pump installation itself will likely take only a day, but adding the time it takes to determine the size of the unit needed, the insulation of the building, and over a dozen other factors can take about a week, even longer during the peak season of the winter and summer months, Matei said.

The price of a heat pump depends on many factors, such as existing duct work, but cost roughly between $8,000 to $60,000 for a three-bedroom home.

Marrs Heating has created a chart to track many of the financial incentives linked to making the switch to heat pumps.

You can download and enlarge this flow chart of questions and answers here to help decide if a heat pump is right for you.