Natural gas furnaces for heating are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases generated by homes and offices. Until recently, these furnaces were state-of-the-art, having replaced oil burners, which replaced coal furnaces, which replaced wood stoves.
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) technology continues to improve. Today, without a doubt, heat pumps are the best way to heat and cool buildings. Most common are air-to-air heat pumps – which basically operate as air conditioners in reverse. Water-to-air (connecting to a well) and ground-source (pipes in the ground) heat pumps are also available.
When your air conditioner dies or your gas furnace expires, you should give serious consideration to replacing these old units with a heat pump system. As part of my Whole House Electrification project, I installed a heat pump, replacing an old gas furnace and dead air conditioning system. The new system has lots of advantages, including efficiency (cheaper to operate than a regular AC and gas furnace), comfort (zoned control), flexibility (easy to set temperatures with an internet-connected thermostat), and super-quiet. The furnace removal and heat pump installation project went smoothly: it took fewer than three weeks from hiring a contractor to turning the new system on.
Installing a new HVAC system can be complicated – not unlike installing rooftop solar and battery storage. To help sort through the details, our guest on this week’s show is Alex Sennert with Supreme Heating and Air. Alex has been in the HVAC business for decades, and does a great job of simplifying heat pump technology, summarizing the economics, and selecting the right solution for your building. If you would like to de-carbonize your home or office with a heat pump HVAC system, Listen Up to this week’s Energy Show.