Green Heating: Heat Pumps, Pro and Con

If you are interested in green heating your home, you could turn your thermostat down and put on a sweater. If you want to spare your community from the pollution of heating oil, then a heat pump is an alternative that uses electricity.

What is a Heat Pump?

A heat pump is simply the reverse of air conditioning. "Air conditioning removes warm air from a room. A heat pump uses a reversing valve to put warm air into a room," said Tom White, owner of Long Beach Heating and Air Conditioning in Long Beach, California. "There are just three components to a heat pump: an indoor motor, an outdoor motor, and a compressor," White explained.

Saving on Costs with Heat Pumps

White points out that some areas of the country do not have natural gas available to them. "Coeur d'Alene, Idaho doesn't have natural gas, but they have tons of water-generated electricity--keeping costs down. It makes sense there to use a heat pump," he explained.

Other advantages of using a heat pump include:

• cleaner air
• no carbon monoxide poisoning
• fewer components that need repair
• long-lasting with lower repair costs

"I had a customer who thought he needed a new unit. That would have cost $5,000, but all he really needed was a compressor which was only $1,900 to replace," said White.

Heat pumps are often used in commercial buildings because the installation is much less expensive than putting in a gas line. Landlords come out ahead when tenants pay the electric bills. Condos and apartments where residents might live above each other also are places where heat pumps are prevalent. There is no need for a vented roof or chimney that some other heating methods require.

Heat Pumps Not Always the Best Option

There are a few drawbacks to using a heat pump. First and foremost, they don't work in cold weather. "If it reaches under 38° they turn off," White said. "Then they have to be backed up with resistance heating." Redundancy is not green heating.

Secondly, it sits outside which means every time it turns on, your neighbors can probably hear it too.

Lastly, though there are few parts, those parts are running nine to ten months out of the year compared to just four or five for a forced-air heater and an air conditioning unit.