Will a heat pump save you money? If you’re heating with natural gas and live in the northern United States, then no.
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Which explains why the states are forcing residents to switch over to them; there’d be no shortage of volunteers were there any benefit to be gained.
That’s for areas of the country where winter temperatures drop below 40°, and the calculation is comparing the high cost of electricity to natural gas; if you heat with home heating oil, you’ll find that the difference narrows, and of course, while the cost of electricity will continue to soar as fossil fuel power plants are shut down and we switch to variable energy, present policy is to drive up the cost of natural gas to a level where it can no longer compete with the eventual 50¢ per kWh cost of electricity. So you’ll be beggared either way, but for now, hang onto your furnace.
Here are some excerpts from the Journal’s article:
We asked home-efficiency pros, engineers and scientists to assess the pluses and minuses of making the switch to a heat pump.
How much will installing one cost?
Heat pumps are available at a range of prices.
The least expensive cost roughly as much as installing a central-air-conditioning system plus a furnace, says Ben Schoenbauer, assistant director of research at the Center for Energy and Environment, an energy-efficiency nonprofit. Think about $10,000 for an average-size house, he says, for a heat pump likely to last about 15 years.
Higher-end models capable of operating in extreme cold [below 40° farenheit — Ed] can run as much as $20,000, with a more typical cost around $15,000, Mr. Schoenbauer says. One option, known as a geothermal heat pump, costs in the $20,000-to-$30,000 range to install, but promises to slash electric bills down the line. These models rely on a tube that runs deep into the ground, rather than drawing on the variable outside air. The Inflation Reduction Act provides a tax break of as much as 30% of the cost to install this type of heat pump.
What powers a heat pump?
The biggest difference between a heat pump and a furnace is their energy source. Heat pumps use electricity, and furnaces burn natural gas. Furnaces are 80% to 90% efficient in converting the energy in the natural gas into heat.
A heat pump uses electricity to move heat that already exists in the outside air, so you get two to four units of heat for every unit of electricity supplied. “This means that heat pumps give you more than 100% of the heat that was originally contained in the fuel that produced the electricity,” Dr. Vaishnav says. The energy efficiency depends on factors such as outside air temperature and quality of the unit.
Does higher efficiency mean lower cost?
Not exactly. In much of the country, natural gas is significantly less expensive than electricity. Even though heat pumps require less energy to produce the same amount of heat, the difference isn’t necessarily enough to offset the higher baseline price of electricity, says Christopher Dymond, a senior product manager for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, which represents utilities and energy-efficiency organizations.
“If the energy costs of your fuel were the same, it would be a no-brainer,” he says.
Then why all the hoopla?
Higher efficiency means that heat pumps are much better for the environment than other options— [how? — Ed] especially if your electricity comes from solar or another green alternative, researchers say. [Not “especially, but “only”, and even that claim is dubious if the environmental costs of building and maintaining “green” power generation are included in the calculation. — Ed.]
Heat pumps can save homeowners more money in moderate climates. The colder it is outside, the more energy they use to warm the air.
In places where the weather rarely dips below freezing, swapping an outdated air conditioner for a heat pump is almost guaranteed to save you money, Mr. Dymond says.
Should I get a heat pump if I live somewhere colder?
A heat pump could still make sense in a northern city, but you might want to consider a dual-fuel option that switches to gas when the temperature drops below 40 degrees. (Or keep your furnace and supplement with your heat pump during the spring and fall.)
If not, energy experts suggest springing for a top-of-the-line model that can still warm efficiently at below-freezing temperatures.
When is a heat pump worth the investment?
For homeowners who heat with electric baseboards, oil or propane, upgrading could save a lot of money. Replacing your air-conditioning system with a heat pump and using it for heating in spring and fall will also save money virtually everywhere, says Abigail Daken, heating and cooling product manager for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program.
Whether the devices lead to a lower bill than with natural gas, however, depends on factors such as the current state of your system, your area’s climate and local prices for electricity compared with natural gas.
In most cases, energy experts say you are likely fine sticking with your current setup until it is time to upgrade your furnace or air-conditioning system.
Bottom line, it seems to me, is that if you’re presently heating with oil and plan on remaining where you are for 15-20 years (and and astonishingly few Greenwich residents do) you’ll probably make back your costs, but otherwise, you won’t. Which brings us back to our original observation: the goverment has to force homowners to these pumps because it makes no economic sense for a homeowner to do it willingly.
