Busting Gas Myths: Heat Pumps vs. Gas Heating
Posted on July 14, 2022 by Charlotte Shuff
Tags, Energy
When looking at available options for heating and cooling your home, you want the best bang for your buck. One of the common myths circulated about natural gas is that it is the most efficient option. Gas and electricity are often compared on their cost, but also their efficiency. By far, heat pumps are more efficient options than gas furnaces. Another bonus is that heat pumps act as air conditioning, as well!
In this blog, we’ll discuss heat pumps, how they work, and incentive options in Oregon. We’ll also feature a conversation with CUB board member, Rory Isbell, who recently made the switch to a heat pump in his home.
Heat Pumps Are the More Efficient Option
All HVAC systems come with an efficiency rating, typically measured by a percentage. This percentage is the amount of energy used by the system vs. how much heat it generates (or removes when looking at cooling systems).
For gas heaters, efficiencies range between models and age of furnace. According to Energy Saver, older, low-efficiency heating systems range between 56-70 percent efficient. A mid-efficiency system is between 80-83 percent. A high-efficiency gas furnace is between 90-98.5 percent.
Heat pumps, by contrast, are in the range of 200-300 percent efficient. This means that a heat pump will add or remove heat (thermal energy) from your home at a higher rate than it uses energy from the electrical grid. Heat pumps use significantly less energy than other HVAC options, saving you money on your bills.
How Do Heat Pumps Work?
Electric heat pumps work differently than gas furnaces. While a gas furnace burns natural gas to generate heat, an electric heat pump transfers heat from the outdoor air to indoors. During the winter, heat is moved from outside air into your home. During the summer, heat from inside your home is pumped to the outdoors.
Heat pumps can be ducted or ductless. A ducted heat pump works much like a traditional heating/cooling system. You set your thermostat to the desired temperature and the system blows that air throughout your home using ducts.
A ductless heat pump is installed in a wall, typically one facing outside. The small unit, called a “mini-split” heat pump, heats and cools that individual room or section of the home.
Incentives Are Available for Heat Pumps in Oregon
Currently the Energy Trust of Oregon offers some cash incentives that can aid utility customers in adopting electric heat pumps for their heating and cooling needs.
Several utilities in Oregon, both public and private, also offer incentives or discounts to customers who purchase electric heat pumps. If you are looking into purchasing a heat pump, be sure to ask your utility’s customer service department about what programs they have in place for energy efficiency upgrades.
An Interview on Switching to a Heat Pump
We sat down with CUB board member, Rory Isbell, who recently made the switch to mini-split (ductless) heat pumps in his home.
Q: Why make the switch to a heat pump?
Rory: The heat sources for my home were two gas fireplaces and two electric wall “cadet” heaters, all of which are quite inefficient. Switching to a heat pump provides a more efficient and less carbon-intensive heat source in the winter.
With hotter summers in our warming climate and the regular presence of wildfire smoke preventing my family from opening windows to cool off the house, a heat pump also provides air conditioning. I have two young kids, and I did not want to choose between damaging their lungs by breathing smoky air or overheating in a hot house.
Why did you choose a mini-split over a ducted heat pump?
Rory: My home was not built with a ducted HVAC system, so a mini-split with wall-mounted indoor blowers made the most sense.
Q: What was the installation process like?
Rory: I chose a brand of heat pump that offers self-installation. With detailed instructions, the right tools, and a family member’s help, installation was not too difficult. Part of the installation is drilling holes through exterior walls to connect the outdoor compressor with the indoor blowers.
My home was built with insulated concrete form (ICF) construction, so the hardest part of the installation was drilling through the concrete core of our exterior wall. For that, I had to rent a bore drill. For most “normal” construction walls, however, nothing more than a standard power drill is needed.
Q: How does using a heat pump compare to using a traditional furnace?
Rory: The heat pump provides both heating and cooling, and it uses much less energy.
Q: What do you like most about using a heat pump?
Rory: We love how customizable the system is. Using a smartphone app that connects to each indoor blower, I can program times and thermostat thresholds that dictate when the system will turn on and what temperature it will shut off. This provides both maximized energy efficiency and comfort. In the winter our system is programmed to turn on and warm our house before we wake up in the morning, and it shuts off automatically once a threshold temperature is met.
Q: Did you have to change your behavior in how you heat your home?
Rory: Not in any negative way. After the initial steps of programming our system using a smartphone app, heating our home is now automated and customized to fit our daily schedule.
Q: How has this switch affected your energy bills?
Rory: Our natural gas bill is minimal. Our electric bill hasn’t changed much, despite that we now use electricity for our primary heat source. For example, prior to installing a heat pump, our natural gas bill was over $100 in the winter. Now it is down to about $25. Our electric bill has stayed around $100 in the winter. So, in the winter we save around $75 per month.
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07/14/22 | 0 Comments | Busting Gas Myths: Heat Pumps vs. Gas Heating