Roxana Shafiee on heat pumps in The Conversation
Homeowners may experience higher heating bills by replacing their current heating systems with heat pumps – at least in some regions of the country – writes Roxana Shafiee, postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment, in The Conversation.
Heat pumps can reduce carbon emissions associated with heating buildings, and many states have set aggressive targets to increase their use in the coming decades. But while heat pumps are often cheaper choices for new buildings, getting homeowners to install them in existing homes isn’t so easy.
Across the U.S., people heat their homes with a range of fuels, mainly because of differences in climate, pricing and infrastructure.
For households currently using oil, propane or non-heat pump forms of electric heating – such as electric furnaces or baseboard resistive heaters – installing a heat pump would reduce heating bills across all parts of the country.
Unfortunately for the households that use natural gas in colder, northern regions – making up around half of the country’s annual heating needs – installing a heat pump could raise their annual heating bills.
Read more at The Conversation.