Is a Heat Pump a Sustainable Solution For Winterizing Your Cleveland Home?

As the air turns colder, Clevelanders are gearing up to get cozy inside. Winterizing your home with a heat pump might solve your winter-weather woes. 

“A heat pump is really just an air conditioner that runs in reverse,” says Brian Stack, president of Stack Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric in Avon. Simply put, a heat pump works by transferring thermal energy from outside to inside through the refrigeration process. 

Heat pumps aren’t new. The first working one, in the 1850s, evaporated brine at a salt works. It took until the 20th century for the idea to reach buildings — a Swiss machine replaced the wood stoves in Zurich’s city hall in 1938 — and longer still for a reversing valve to let one unit heat and cool.

Although the systems continued to advance, heat pumps were often best-suited for mild climates, where temperatures rarely dipped below 40 degrees.

“Heat pump technology has changed a lot over the last five years to now be able to produce much more heat at colder temperatures,” says Stack, who notes that new cold-climate heat pumps can last 15 to 20 years. “The unit can provide almost 100% of the heat output at zero degrees outside.” 

Once just an alternative to fossil-fuel heating options, modern inverter-driven systems do more than reduce carbon emissions. They’re highly energy efficient — up to 400% in some cold-climate models, or four units of heat for every unit of electricity.

“For every dollar you’re spending on electricity to run the heat pump, you may be getting $3 to $4 worth of heat,” Stack adds.

Whole-house electric heating reduces health and safety risks associated with gas-fueled furnaces, such as carbon monoxide poisoning, gas leaks or gas-related fires. 

READ MORE: How Should Clevelanders Actually Use Their Thermostat?

Though these new cold-climate systems may be efficient in warming you up on a cold winter day, they may not be the most cost-effective model for your home. For Clevelanders with natural gas, it can be cheaper to use a natural gas furnace. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that residential natural gas costs roughly one-third the price for the same amount of grid electricity.

“So it’s cheaper to run the furnace, even though it’s less efficient than it is to run the heat pump,” says Stack. 

Depending on circumstances, Stack suggests considering a dual-fuel system, using both a heat pump and a gas furnace.

“It gives you two options,” he says.

Homeowners can use the heat pump for the majority of the year, while switching over to gas to optimize the lower cost when necessary.

“People are putting in mini-splits,” Stack says, “which is a very efficient heat pump system.”

Stack views this setup as a great option for older homes with steam heat and attics or additions that don’t have the capacity to vent gas to the outside, which is required for furnaces. No matter your situation, he says, now is a great time to consider a heat pump.

“The technology is changing so much and so quickly,” he says. “There’ll be a lot of changes coming forward.” 

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