While engineers and environmental activists have been aware of the climate-friendly potential of heat pumps for years, recent efforts to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions are bringing the appliances to the forefront of home heating discussions in Washington.
Electric heat pumps can both heat and cool homes, as well as provide hot water. With state guidelines pushing the electric grid away from fossil fuels and new models proving more efficient than ever, heat pumps offer one more way to help reduce our impact on climate change.
SO, WHAT'S A HEAT PUMP?
Rather than generating heat by burning natural gas or heating an electric coil to warm up air that's pumped through a home, heat pumps pull existing heat from the air or ground, amplify it, and transfer it inside or outside a building.
You can think of it kind of like a refrigerator, which pulls heat out of the fridge by passing a refrigerant that boils at extremely low temperatures through a compressor and coils. Hold your hand behind the fridge, and you'll feel the heat that's being transferred out.
Many heat pumps operate similarly and can work in either direction, warming a home in the winter and cooling it in the summer.
Even at minus 14 degrees or hotter than 110, newer heat pumps can still warm or cool homes, although, like gas furnaces or plug-in air conditioners, they get less efficient as temperatures reach extremes. Some heat pumps also have a backup system to produce electric resistance heat (like the electric coil mentioned above) when necessary.
WHY IS WASHINGTON PROMOTING HEAT PUMPS?
In 2019, state lawmakers passed the Clean Energy Transformation Act, putting Washington's utilities on a path to provide completely renewable, non-emitting electricity by 2045.
About 55 percent of the state's electric power already comes from hydroelectric dams. Transitioning off the fossil fuels that supply much of the remaining electricity is a key part of the state's strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent (from 1990 levels) by 2050.
The Washington State Building Code Council voted last year to require electric heat pumps for home heating and hot water in new residential construction, with natural gas hookups or resistance heat only intended to serve as backups. New commercial and multifamily construction will also need to rely on heat pumps under the rules, which could take effect this summer, but a lawsuit has been filed by builders to block the changes.
Powering our homes, offices and shops produces about a quarter of our emissions statewide, explains Kelly Hall, the Washington director for Climate Solutions, a nonprofit focused on climate policy. Heat pumps not only help reduce emissions by using less electricity, but they can also help us get off natural gas appliances that may leak carbon monoxide and contribute to health issues, Hall says.
The new code doesn't force anyone to choose to get off gas right now, she says.
"The state building code does require efficient heat pumps in new buildings," Hall says. "It does not ban a natural gas hookup, or a natural gas stove. It pushes us toward the most efficient appliances."
DO THEY WORK IN THE INLAND NORTHWEST?
Winters like the one we just had often dip into the single digits or colder.
Counterintuitively, there's still plenty of heat to be captured from cold air, says Sam Rodell, a local passive house architect who designs extremely efficient airtight homes. That style of construction, which also uses better insulation and provides better air quality through mechanical ventilation, only needs about 10 percent of the power a built-to-code home requires, he says. Heat pumps can work extremely well for that style.
"We are able to keep the interior climate right where we want it with simple, small equipment, and heat pumps do the job perfectly," Rodell says.
But say you have a far less efficient, drafty old home like many of those found throughout Spokane. Can heat pumps still get the job done?
The simple answer is yes. The key, experts say, is to make sure that your heat pump system is designed to your home's specific needs by a trained professional.
CAN THEY SAVE MONEY?
Local homeowner and environmentalist Fawna Slavik says she and her husband weren't sure if a heat pump would work in their century-old home, even though they wanted to replace their old furnace with a climate-friendly option.
"One winter a few years ago, it was really, really cold, and our gas bill was insane," Slavik says. "It made me feel bad every time I paid the bill, and it was like, 'This is really terrible for the environment.'"
So she was pleasantly surprised to learn a heat pump would work. They made the switch two years ago while renovating, and she says the system has saved them hundreds of dollars over those two winters and kept things comfortable all year long.
"The technology has come pretty far," Slavik says. "It's been fantastic. We didn't have an air conditioning unit at all, so now when it's smoky or super hot we're not dying."
HOW EFFICIENT ARE THEY?
Heat pumps are incredibly efficient, putting out as much as three to five times as much energy as they require — that's 300 percent to 500 percent efficient, which is a big difference over high-efficiency natural gas furnaces that are about 90 to 99 percent efficient.
Parts of the country that get more electric power from coal and gas wouldn't necessarily see significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions if everyone switched to heat pumps. But in Washington, which has some of the cheapest electricity in the country from mostly renewable energy sources, the switch can save a significant amount of climate-warming gasses from being emitted.
WHAT OTHER PERKS ARE THERE?
Environmental groups are pushing state lawmakers to offer rebates, particularly for those with low to moderate incomes. The House's proposed budget includes $115 million for heat pumps and electric appliances.
"It's really important to us that finances aren't the barrier for electrifying your home," says Hall with Climate Solutions, noting that state funding can unlock up to $14,000 per home in federal heat pump incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. "We're hopeful there will be a good amount of money put toward electrifying our homes in the final budget."
Local installer Gavin Tenold, who owns Northwest Renewables, specializes in projects that save customers money on their electric bills and help decarbonize the environment. Many of his customers want cleaner air as well.
"We live in a city with an older built environment. Lots of homes were built in the early half of the last century, and they don't have nice, new modern ductwork," Tenold says. "Ductless [heat pump] solutions are excellent for that."
Premium heat pumps will be more expensive than installing traditional heating, he says, but the efficiency over traditional appliances can save on monthly bills. Plus, heat pumps are far quieter.
"Are we going to panic buy window-rattling ACs?" Tenold says. Heat pumps "are quiet and more efficient than the electric air conditioners that people are comparing them to." ♦
