25 States Agree To Quadruple Number Of Heat Pumps In America::The US Climate Alliance met in New York City this week to explain the benefits of heat pumps, including better health for American families.
If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of Technology Connections screaming “YIPPEEE”
His videos and others like it inspired me to keep looking when when all the HVAC companies kept telling me it wasn’t possible.
He makes a bunch of amazing videos.
My personal favorite is probably the one on the color Brown.
and not just cause it has Aging Wheels in it saying BROWN in the best way possible.
I live in Canada. I paid $13,900 for a heat pump. That includes the installation, removal of my natural gas furnace, and the engineering inspections. I got a $6,300 rebate from the Federal government. I got a $6,300 rebate from the provincial government. So all in I only paid $1,300 out of pocket. In the summer especially I save about $250 per month using the heat pump instead of the multiple portable AC’s we had. Its paid for itself in under a year for sure.
It was a lot of work to get. Tons of HVAC companies I called told me heat pumps don’t work in our climate. That’s not true. The heat pump I have works till -30 c which never happens here. They insisted on installing a natural gas furnace and a Central AC. One of them quoted me $26,000 for a heat pump that was so inefficient it didn’t qualify for any rebates. Multiple other HVAC companies just didn’t respond when I insisted on a heat pump. NEEP’s heat pump list was very helpful in fact checking the stuff they told me. I finally found a small one man shop who was awesome but it took a lot of hard searching.
Getting the rebate was also a big ordeal. I had to pay for everything upfront. I researched the rebate process and made sure to have all the paperwork lined up. I had to get an engineering inspection of the house done before and after so I could compare the reports to prove my carbon footprint improved. If you accidentally get the heat pump installed without doing the before inspection you don’t qualify. Even with all my paperwork it took 7 months to get the final rebate. Multiple times they called me saying I hadn’t submitted a required report. I had everything on file and would just resubmit what they were looking for. I’ve spent many hours waiting on hold. Its pretty clear they are trying to save money through being inefficient.
It is worth it in the end. I’m very happy with the heat pump. The process is not easy. I imagine most people would just accept the HVAC companies recommendation and get not get a heat pump which is unfortunate.
Which province and where? I’m genuinely curious and willing to jump the hoops for my little semi.
Chilliwack BC.
You can see the Federal rebates here: https://natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-efficiency/homes/canada-greener-homes-grant/start-your-energy-efficient-retrofits/plan-document-and-complete-your-home-retrofits/eligible-grants-for-my-home-retrofit/23504
You can see the BC Provincial rebates here: https://www.betterhomesbc.ca/heatpumps/
It looks like the amounts have changed a bit since I did it. If you are in the lower mainland area I highly recommend Positive Solar Energy HVAC Plus. I’d link the site but it looks like its down. Joel is the owner and he is a lot better at installing heat pumps and solar panels then running a business.
I’m in Ontario. I’ll look and see what my province has to offer. Thanks!
25 states agree to do something productive
lemme guess which 25
That’s the whole conservative deal: they’re not for doing things.
I’m going through this right now with my state (MA). After a lot of talking and finding non-shit vendors and quotes and stuff I’ve got an application into the state program. About $28k total to remove oil from my home completely in favor of heatpumps and a new water heater. State will give us a 10k rebate and a loan where they pay 7 years of interest. So that works out to 10k upfront we get back and then 7 years of $225/month payments.
We pay $300/month for oil. And that price is always getting higher.
Edit: worth mentioning that we are going for a full whole home rebate - to get the full 10k we are required to heat the same areas to the same heat load to qualify. We could have gone for a partial rebate and done a hybrid oil heat pump system. (Which didn’t seem to be a good idea long term with oil costs)
Why so expensive? That’s the price of our geothermal system with its really expensive well.
5 indoor units, 2 outdoor units, new water tank, electric work, boiler and oil tank both got to get chopped up safely before being brought out. Went through several vendors to get the project under 30k.
And it’s New England so the heat pumps have to be hyper heat units that function in winter. We are getting units that will heat to 70 degrees inside at -13deg outside and functions down to -22. (All F)
wow, we paid $16k for 4 indoor units/1 outdoor unit (we can add 1 more indoor unit in case we re-do the basement). $2k for the heat pump hot water heater. $1k to have the oil tank removed. $19k total. for the mini split/water heater we got a 1% loan from the state.
we’re in new england and got the mitsubishi hyper heats. this was all pre-covid but wow that is an expensive quote.
For reference the cheapest heat pump water heater I was able to get quoted (4 companies quoted) was $6k. We elected to get a non efficient water tank at $1900. 2023.
I think covid drove up the cost for sure. And I think certain contractors are inflating the price for the rebate. 2 of 4 companies gave me 50k plus quotes even without duct work. Maybe that was the fuck you we don’t have the people to do it please go away price though I dunno.
Ah. That explains it. Mini split?
Yeah. Our duct system is absolutely awful. We looked into mini splits to solve the problem before the geothermal. The ones with multiple heads were just ridiculous.
We did later finish our attic and put one up there. It’s awesome.
Yea it’s basically a not mini mini split.
We looked into doing a ducted heat pump through the attic for the top floor. But it quickly brought the project into the 50k range for what amounted to a slightly better looking design.
That’s the problem we had. Not only is actually making our duct work work probably not physically feasible, I can’t find an HVAC company that actually tries to solve the problem I have.
It’s “I’m not sure why you think that splitting my HVAC system left to right (the easy way) will help my problem with HVAC front to back.”
I have a PhD in engineering and strongly respect the trades. It’s just don’t be stupid. And HVAC have to know a lot about all the various trades.
And you guys get 8 months of winter
Not any more.
Yeah past few years Southern NE has barely kept snow on the ground, if at all.
We get a fall and 3-4 months of winter.
I’m in FL and have had heat pump cooling since 1992. It’s the usual AC system here for, well, at least since the 1990s, if a house has ‘central AC’ that’s a heat pump. There is no other sort of central AC I am aware of. It’s not new technology, I am confused?
People usually talk about “heat pumps” when they’re talking about using those systems to heat homes (and sometimes heating water), not cool homes. When they talk about the devices that cool homes, they generally just call it AC (even if it is technically a heat pump).
We as a country use far, far more energy heating homes than cooling homes.
The difference is that a heat pump is a two-in-one unit, so it’s basically an air conditioner with a reverse switch.
Sweet. I have oil-fired hydronic baseboard heat and indirect DHW. Live in Massachusetts. Does that mean they’ll be some good deals on moving to air-to-water heat pumps?
And what about the 1-3 days a year when ambient is outside of operating range? Bundle up in front of resistive space heaters?
I’m from North Carolina, heat pumps are pretty common here, I grew up in a heat pump only house.
The system has resistive strips, sometimes labelled “emergency heat” on the thermostat. Those can provide heat when the outside unit can’t; and I believe they are used to defrost the outside unit.
There are “hybrid” systems that include a furnace rather than resistive heating elements. If it gets so cold the heat pump can’t handle it, it lights the furnace. This is perhaps an upgrade for folks who live with an air conditioner plus furnace system; basically your furnace doesn’t light as often, instead your air conditioner runs in reverse.
Where in North Carolina? I’ve grown up and west NC, have since moved to mid-NC, never seen a house with a heat pump.
The Sandhills is full of them.
Interesting. I wonder if they’ll ever become common in the greater Charlotte area.
The climate is perfect for them. We’ve got folks from New England or Canada talking about adopting heat pumps, where it really does get so cold that it’s a concern. Our +30F winters are perfectly acceptable for heat pumps year round, and most folks have forced air central AC anyway. It’s really a no brainer here.
Bundle up in front of resistive space heaters?
Usually, when the temps are too cold for Heat Pumps to work super effectively, they still work a bit, just not enough to fully keep up with demand. So you could absolutely use resistive space heaters to supplement, not be sole heat source.
MA already has a program in place. Look up MassSave. Bet case scenario you could qualify for a 10k rebate and a 7year 0% interest loan.
That actually sounds bangin. My only problem is I have underground electrical service and only 100A of it. I don’t even know where to start with that. Probably have to tear up my driveway and a bunch of trees to run a new service entry.
Ya that sounds rough. Maybe they ran higher gauge cable and skimped on the breaker?
I know electric work can be included in the loan for whatever that’s worth.
Well that’s good to know. Will definitely have to look into it. My (oil) boiler and DHW are old as hell. I would love to go electric before they finally fail spectacularly and I get forced into replacing with more oil.
Exactly what I’m doing right now. Oil tank is rated for 30 years, and it’s 32 years old.
Start here and get an energy assessment done. Took about 90min, we did it on a video call.
MassSave Home Energy Assessment
They are also going to upgrade our insulation to current standards. $3000 job but through them we are paying $526.44. Also we got some free power strips and shower heads and a smart thermostat upgrade.
If this whole heat pump install goes well I’m going to be telling literally everyone in MA to contact them…
Maybe I am just not seeing it, but are there any links to find info on using the program?
There is no program yet I suspect, this is just a commitment to develop programs in each state. Some might already have them, but probably not big enough.
Seeing all those blue, trending blue but purple states listed, then fucking BAM, Louisiana. I know the governor is a D but this suggests this isn’t really that big of a commitment if Louisiana is listed if only the governor is the reason.
Clearly, this is a liberal Democrat deep state Marxist plot to heat and cool our homes with SOCIALISM!
If they offer a nice price break or rebate, I’d consider it. I’m tired of oil heat. Expensive AF.
That number almost certainly includes my state WA, with its 8.5 months of rain, and only 3 and a half nice months in which there are just 4-7 summer days when an AC would really be needed. While we usually wear raincoats for Christmas instead of snowcoats, cold snaps are getting more and more severe and common, and on some years these days we have a difference of up to 80 degrees between the coldest day (usually in February) and the hottest (usually in July).
Not sure where in Washington you are, but from Portland to Everett we had 3 months of over 70 weather, and many, many days over 80 this summer. My house doesn’t have tree cover and gets warm, even though I have brand new r40 insulation on my attic. I ran my portable AC nearly every day to keep my bedroom cool enough to sleep.
