Show All Answers

1. What does an air source heat pump look like?

All air source heat pumps (ASHP) include an outdoor unit that will look similar to the unit in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Typical ASHP outdoor unit

Ductless air source heat pumps, sometimes referred to as mini-splits, will have one or more indoor units that mount high on an inside wall. Figure 2 shows a typical air source heat pump indoor unit.

Figure 2: Typical ASHP indoor unit with remote control

Ducted air source heat pumps are connected directly to a building’s ductwork so there are no indoor wall units to be seen.

2. Why should I consider an air source heat pump?

There are many reasons why an air source heat pump could be a good fit for your home.
• Energy savings. If you heat with oil, propane, or electric resistance heat, you could save hundreds of dollars a year on your heating bill by installing an air source heat pump.
• High-efficiency cooling. Air source heat pumps also provide air conditioning or dehumidification and are more efficient than window units and most central air conditioning systems.
• Increased resiliency. Efficiently cooling even one room in a home may be a life-saver for people at risk of dying from excessive temperatures during heat waves due to a warming climate.
• Improved home comfort. In addition to providing cooling, heat pumps filter and dehumidify air, which can improve the air quality and comfort of your home.
• Flexible options. Heat pumps are a flexible technology that can be installed in homes of all shapes and sizes with different needs—whether you need a whole-home system replacement, you wish to increase the efficiency of heating one part of your home or you wish to add extra heating for part of your home that’s never warm enough.
• Lower your carbon footprint. As a clean heating and cooling technology, converting from burning fossil fuels to using an air source heat pump will help reduce your carbon footprint and dependence on imported fossil fuels.
For homeowners interested in converting from oil, propane, or electric resistance heating to gas (but can’t due to the natural gas moratorium), an air source heat pump provides a clean, lower-carbon alternative that will be as low-cost to run as a gas system while also providing cooling for the hottest days of the year and an ability to be powered partially or wholly by renewable energy. Consider cold climate air source heat pumps to be the cleaner alternative to natural gas!

3. What is an air source heat pump and how does it work?

Air source heat pumps are appliances that provide heating and cooling by moving heat into a building (for heating) or out of a building (for cooling). Heat pumps do not create heat, they just move heat from one place to another.
They accomplish this by using a refrigerant that absorbs heat from colder air in order to move that heat into a space with warmer air – much the same way that a refrigerator or air conditioner works except that it can move heat in both directions. A cold climate air source heat pump can do this even when the winter air is well below freezing: today’s cold climate air source heat pumps can extract heat from the air all the way down to -13°F. In the summer, the process is reversed and heat is absorbed from the cooler indoor air and moved to the warmer outdoor air.
Since it takes far less energy to move heat than it does to create heat, heat pumps are one of the most efficient home heating systems available. There are two primary types of air source heat pumps:
Ductless air source heat pumps – Each ductless system includes one outdoor unit connected to one or more indoor units with small copper lines.
Ductless air source heat pumps are the most efficient air-source systems and are often installed in homes and offices to supplement existing systems, usually in the most frequently used rooms like family rooms or bedrooms or hallways that can reach multiple rooms.
These systems often come with remote controls that allow you to use them for heating, cooling, dehumidification or as a ceiling fan. Because each indoor unit can be controlled individually, you can reduce your energy use even more by lowering the temperature in rooms that are not being used.

Ducted air source heat pumps – A ducted system has an outdoor unit that is connected to a building’s ductwork, much the same way that a furnace is connected to a home’s ductwork. Only with an air source heat pump the system is not creating heat, but rather moving it from the outdoor air inside so that the air handler in your ductwork can circulate it throughout the building. Cideo on ductless air source heat pumps

4. How will converting to an air source heat pump effect greenhouse gas emissions?

If you currently use electric baseboard, oil, propane or natural gas to heat your house you will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by converting some or all of your heating needs to an air source heat pump. An air source heat pump being run by electricity you buy from a Massachusetts utility will produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions per unit of heat delivered than even the most energy efficient traditional home heating system.  This fact takes into account the greenhouse gas emissions caused by producing the electricity to run the heat pump and from any leakage of refrigerant while charging or operating the heat pump. If your electricity supply includes more low/no-carbon renewable energy than the standard utility mix then your greenhouse gas emissions will be even lower.

5. Why are air source heat pumps sometimes referred to as a renewable heating/cooling system?

Air source heat pumps are sometimes said to be “renewable” or “clean” heating and cooling systems because they do not create heat, but rather they move heat – a renewable resource found throughout the environment – from one place to another. This process is powered by electricity, which can also be sourced from renewable sources like solar, wind, or hydro.
About 12% of Massachusetts’ electricity sold by utilities is currently generated by renewable electricity (by law this has to increase 1% every year) and air source heat pumps generate fewer emissions per unit of heat than traditional home heating systems.

6. How do the annual maintenance costs of an air source heat pump compare to other heating systems?

Annual system maintenance, which consists of cleaning air filters and an annual maintenance checkup for the outside unit, costs about the same as annual servicing charges for a boiler or furnace.

7. I hear that air source heat pumps can also be used for cooling. How do the annual operating costs of an air source heat pump compare to other cooling systems?

Today’s new air source heat pumps are twice as efficient as typical window air conditioners and up to 50% more efficient than central air conditioners. If you replace window AC units with air source heat pumps of the same cooling capacity, you would cut your cooling bill in half – as well as lowering your heating bill.

8. Are there state or utility subsidies or rebates that can be used to reduce installation costs?

Yes, and the contractors selected to provide air source heat pumps through the HeatSmart Northampton program will help customers receive all available subsidies and rebates.

Because cold climate air source heat pumps are highly energy efficient, installing a system makes you eligible for a rebate from MassSAVE – Massachusetts’ utility-supported energy efficiency program. Depending on the type and efficiency of heat pump you install, Mass Save offers rebates of up to $500 for heat pumps. Additional information on these rebates can be found here: https://www.masssave.com/en/saving/residential-rebates/electric-heating-and-cooling/.

Mass Save also offers a HEAT Loan for efficient technologies like heat pumps. Through the HEAT Loan program, you could qualify for a 0% interest loan of up to $25,000 over a term of up to 7 years, which you could use to finance your heat pump installation. Additional information on the HEAT Loan can be found here: https://www.masssave.com/en/saving/residential-rebates/heat-loan-program/

Because cold climate air source heat pumps are considered a clean heating and cooling technology, installing a system makes you eligible for a rebate from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) – Massachusetts’ renewable energy support agency. Rebates from the MassCEC range from $625 to $6,000 per system depending on system type and your income and family size. Additional information on these rebates can be found here: http://www.masscec.com/get-clean-energy/residential/air-source-heat-pumps

9. How long does it take for the annual cost savings of an air source heat pump to match the installation costs? How fast would it pay for itself?

The cost of heating depends on the cost of the fuel used, which fluctuates significantly from year to year. The cost of heating with an air source heat pump (electricity) is usually similar to heating with natural gas. This means the typical homeowner will save hundreds of dollars a year compared to heating with oil, kerosene, or propane, and potentially thousands of dollars a year compared to electric baseboard heating. So if you are using an air source heat pump instead of one of these more expensive-to-run heating systems to heat all or some of your home your savings will exceed the initial installation cost (without rebates) in 5 to 10 years, depending on energy prices.

Contractors selected to provide air source heat pumps through the HeatSmart Northampton program will help customers determine more exact payback times after rebates for each specific system.

10. How long do air source heat pumps last?

Air source heat pumps typically run for 15 years.

11. How complicated is it to install an air source heat pump? How much time does it take?

A ductless air source heat pump can be installed in less than a day. It entails mounting indoor units on brackets attached to inside walls, running copper lines through a 3 inch hole in an outside wall to the outside unit and mounting the outside unit on a stand or on a bracket attached to the outside wall. When a HeatSmart Northampton installer conducts a free site visit of your home, they will also assess whether there are any issues in your home that could cause an installation to take more than a day.

12. How noisy are air source heat pumps?

An air source heat pump is quieter running than a refrigerator and much quieter than a typical window AC unit.

13. Are there any disadvantages to air source heat pumps?

As outdoor temperatures drop, so does the efficiency of an air-source heat pump, since the heat pump is transferring heat from the air instead of generating it by burning a fuel. For example, a unit that delivers four units of heat for every unit of electricity at 50°F, may only deliver two units of heat for every unit of electricity at temperatures below zero. When outside temperatures get extremely cold (around -15° F) the systems will shut down, therefore homeowners may choose to keep existing heating systems in place to serve as a backup when outdoor air temperatures are very low.

To put this into context, in Northampton typical nighttime low winter temperatures stay above zero degrees Fahrenheit and generally stay above 10 degrees Fahrenheit. But on rare occasions temperatures have been known to drop well below zero. Therefore a backup system would be needed on rare occasions.