What's All This Talk about Heat Pumps?

What's All This Talk About Heat Pumps, and Why Should I Care?

Want to slash your carbon emissions? Get whole-house air conditioning without ducts? Maybe save money in the process?

Air-source heat pumps could be right for you.

What are heat pumps?

Think of them as air conditioners that also run in reverse. Instead of just moving heat from inside to outside, they can also move it from outside to inside. In winter, today's cold climate heat pumps can reliably extract heat from air that is 5°F or even colder. Then, in summer, they provide all the benefits of central AC, in homes both with and without ducts.

Concord residents are enjoying the results!

But heat pumps still use electricity. How much carbon do they really save?

In 2020, 44% of Concord’s electricity came from carbon-free sources. That 44% is expected to increase to 90% in 2023 and 100% in 2030. So a whole-house heat pump system installed today will, long before the end of its expected 15-20 year lifespan, be providing all of its home’s heating, cooling and dehumidification without using a drop of fossil fuel, either directly or indirectly.

So where do I begin?

After a lifetime spent with furnaces and boilers, switching to something new can be daunting. To make the process as easy, inexpensive and error-free as possible, CMLP is offering:

heating/cooling coaches who will help you figure out if heat pumps are right for you, then help you navigate every step of heat pump adoption;
a list of participating heat pump installers;
rebates up to $4,000 per installation; and
a bulwark against bad installs. Before work begins, your contractor’s plans will be checked over by experts at Concord-based Abode Energy Management. After the system is installed, Abode will review it again.

"Our kids went through the Concord school system and they each did energy assessments of our family's carbon footprint. When we were in a home that was heated with fossil fuels and cooled by traditional (inefficient) air conditioning, our carbon footprint was huge. Now, even though our house is large, our carbon footprint is relatively small. It feels like we are now part of the solution rather than part of the problem and that feels good."

- Allison and Tom Aley, Concord heat pump users

Concord Municipal Light Plant | 978-318-3151 | jaceti@concordma.gov | concordma.gov/cmlp