As building codes and new construction move toward all-electric power, residents with older homes using natural gas are wondering how we can make the transition to all-e and share the rewards of lower energy costs and climate benefits.

Three home appliances typically need replacement: the gas furnace, gas water heater and gas stove. Fortunately, technologies are available to replace all three that provide greater energy efficiency, cost savings and better performance. (See our Feb. 28, 2021 column, “Why we should end our love affair with gas stoves.”) This article focuses on electric heat pumps and heat pump water heaters.

Heat pumps are so energy efficient that the latest state building code update will require most new homes and buildings to be equipped with at least one electric heat pump for either space heating or water heating. This will help wean new buildings off fossil fuels like natural gas in favor of electric appliances that can run on 100% clean energy.

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The technology isn’t new—it’s how refrigerators and air conditioners work. Heat pumps do not generate heat – they move heat from one place to another. While a furnace creates heat by burning natural gas, then distributing heat throughout a home, a heat pump absorbs heat energy from the outside air (even in cold temperatures) and transfers it to the indoor air.

In cooling mode, heat pumps and air conditioners function identically, absorbing heat from the indoor air and releasing it outdoors. A heat pump has a reversible valve so it can heat or cool the refrigerant fluid, which moves from one location to another through circulating lines.

A typical air source heat pump system has two major components – an outdoor unit, which looks like a split-system air conditioning system, and an indoor air handler unit. This system feeds the warm (or cool) air into a duct system. In homes with no duct system, the indoor units (called “wall cassettes”) can be wall-mounted in each room for individual temperature control.

Energy Efficiency Means Lower Electric Bills

Heat pumps are amazingly energy efficient because they move heat rather than generating it. According to Trane Technologies, which makes both heat pumps and furnaces, “A heat pump can transfer 300% more energy than it consumes. In contrast, a high-efficiency gas furnace is about 95% efficient.” Energy efficiency equals lower utility bills, especially if a home is equipped with solar. Other benefits include eliminating emissions from burning natural gas in the home, a benefit to indoor air quality and the home’s carbon footprint.

Heat pump water heaters are up to three times more efficient than gas water heaters and eliminate the risk of carbon monoxide or nitrogen dioxide leaks, according to MCE, Napa County’s electricity provider.

St. Helena residents Anne Cottrell and her husband Doug Cutting have installed heat pumps in homes for themselves and family members. The home of Cottrell’s mother, Sue, was retrofitted last fall.

“It’s the first time I’ve felt warm in all my rooms. It runs more and quietly, and doesn’t have the blast of heat like the old furnace,” Sue Cottrell reported.

The Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) offers rebates of $1000 each for heat pumps and heat pump water heaters. The heat pump water heater is also eligible for up to an additional $2000 incentive paid to the contractor, when installed by a BayREN Participating Contractor.

1) Look up rebates and incentives with BayREN’s Home+ program: https://www.bayrenresidential.org/rebates-financing

2) Check out Electrify My Home: https://www.electrifymyhome.com/

3) Watch the Napa Climate NOW!/Napa Housing Coalition Supervisor Candidate Forum April 14, 6:30 pm. Register: http://napa.350bayarea.org/events

Photo: Doug Cutting, Sue Cottrell and Anne Cottrell with Sue’s new heat pump in St. Helena

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