_jfif.jpg)
HEAT PUMP INSTALLATION
James Heating Cooling And More is the Leading High Efficiency Air Source Heat Pump installation company in Marshall County. Our goal is to not only save you money on installation costs as well as on your homes energy bills but to also have a seamless installation of your new equipment without any hassle to you.
Heat pumps are a great way to upgrade your HVAC equipment to a much higher efficiency
and get great perks such as lower monthly energy bills, Quieter running equipment, local government, energy company, and manufacturer rebates, and so much more. Having James install your homes heat pump means not needing to worry about the level of quality of the professional install nor needing to worry about hidden costs. Our free installation estimates are straight forward. What we quote is what you pay. We know how hard it is to make a buck and the last thing you need is to be taken advantage of.
Heat Pumps can work in conjunction with any new high efficiency gas furnace and certain older models made within the last few years, however changing the entire system out for a new system with a brand new warranty might be the better solution, especially if you plan on financing your new system with us.
But before we talk about the savings you could receive and having us install your new system, let’s clear the air about what a heat pump is and what they can do for you.
WHAT IS A HEAT PUMP?
As a general description, Air Source heat pumps are glorified Air Conditioners that can both cool and heat a home from the same unit. They can replace both a traditional air conditioner and a home heating system like a furnace, boiler, or inefficient baseboard heat as the primary source of heating and cooling.
Basically a heat pump is an air conditioner that has the capability to circulate the internal refrigerant gas forwards and backwards within the system. In one direction of flow you get cooling and in the other you get Heating within your home. Let me explain...
Heat pumps move heat from one place to another. In cooling mode, a heat pump moves the heat inside your home to the outside, leaving your home cooler.
This is basically how your refrigerator or current air conditioner works. These appliances pump heat out of an insulated, treated space, replacing it with dehumidified and temperature treated air, leaving it cooler inside that space.
​
But since heat pumps also work when its cold outside, how do they provide heat on a cold day?
Well, they basically go into reverse-mode and pump heat energy from the latent outside air into your home leaving your home warmer.
A bit confusing? Consider your refrigerator. When you put your hand inside, it’s cold. But if you stand behind it, it’s hot. Your refrigerator is pumping heat out of the insulated treated space of it’s inside and into your kitchen (or more likely a little-seen space behind the fridge that collects all those little dust bunnies). Now imagine that you reversed this process. The inside space would now get hot. And the outside space would get cold. That’s what happens when you turn your heat pump on in the winter. (Light bulb moment) You see they really aren’t confusing at all.
WHAT IS A MINI-SPLIT?
While we are at it...
I am sure that you have heard the term Mini-Split? A mini-split, or ductless heat pump can both cool and heat a home just like a standard heat pump, however, they do so in a localized area. This means that you can treat one room at let’s say 65 degrees, while treating another at 75 degrees. This is referred to as zoning. A standard heat pump system is connected to your central HVAC ductwork where as the Mini-Split has it’s own indoor mounted head unit for conditioned air delivery.
​
What is good and bad about a Mini-Split?
Pros:
While a traditional heating and cooling system can be controlled with only one thermostat, each indoor unit of a mini-split can be set to a different temperature (zoning ). A traditional system may or may not be able to be “zoned” due to size requirements of specific zones making the mini-split option the best. Mini-Split systems are also a great way of getting conditioned air into a space that a traditional Air Conditioning system cannot be installed due to equipment placing locations. Some homes are on a slab foundation with a boiler and the homeowner may not want the new equipment to be placed in their attic... A storefront in a downtown stretch of buildings may not have a forced air central heating system nor the location to mount the needed ductwork and outdoor equipment, etc..
​
Cons:
There are disadvantages of mini-split units however.
1. Warranty.
The first one being manufacturers warranties. Most mini split manufacturers only offer a 6 year parts warranty while traditional HVAC equipment and Heat Pumps offer a 10 year parts and sometimes even 10 year labor warranties like we offer through our Luxaire models.
2. Location problems.
Remember we mentioned zoning? A single or multi-zone setup typically allows from 1 to 6 indoor units to be connected to a single outdoor unit. Each indoor unit is connected to an outdoor unit by thin lines of refrigerant, power, and drainage. If these lines cannot be immediately brought into the home at the outdoor unit location and ran throughout the homes interior such as attic, basement, or within the walls, then the line sets need to be ran along the outside of the home, inside of channels mounted to your homes exterior, and around the perimeter of your home, in order to get to the mounted location of the indoor head unit... Wow, that was a lot to say.
3. Parts.
Being that Mini-Split systems are fairly new to the American market, parts are a little hard to obtain, meaning, you may need to wait ( without heating or cooling ) for the part to come in.
HOW MUCH MONEY CAN A HEAT PUMP SAVE ME?
According to the Department of Energy, some homeowners can save up to $1,000 per year by switching to an air source heat pump.
Everyone’s home is different therefore energy savings will vary. The climate of your location, your homes insulation, size and efficiency, and what is around your homes location such as trees, lakes etc.... can all effect energy costs. Here are the factors that impact savings the most:
​
The size of your home
the larger your home, the larger your energy bill, which means, the more you currently spend, the more you will save by switching to a heat pump. However, due to the nature of how a heat pump needs to be sized for your home, the system will be larger than what you currently have in technical terms which will cost a little more on initial purchase. That’s where current government, energy company, and manufacturer rebates come into play which take up for more than the difference of initial costs between heat pumps and air conditioners.
(More on that in a bit)
​
Your local climate
Heat pumps work in both warm and cold areas of the country. Imagine if you will that it is let’s say 40 degrees outside; every time your furnace starts your wasting full BTU energy in order to heat your home. In this case, the High Efficiency Heat Pump takes over where the furnace used to run and heats your home at a fraction of the energy that it was using with the furnace. Now let’s say that it gets down to 5 degrees at night and the heat pump just cant seem to handle the load.... automatically in steps your selected back up heat, furnace, electric air handler, duct heater or whatever you may have in your home and makes up the difference keeping your home at your selected temperature without every feeling a difference. Therefore, your furnace is only running when absolutely necessary while the heat pump does all the work.
How energy efficient your home is
If your home is poorly insulated, old windows, or drafty doors, then you probably spend a lot of money to heat and/or cool your home anally. And that means more opportunity for the heat pump to save you money by being an energy efficient piece of the savings equation. Save even more by getting a home energy audit and determining where your losing dollars in your home and correcting those issues.
​
How you currently heat your home
Example Tables For Savings HERE
Switching from an electric furnace to a heat pump will save you around 800 per year. That’s because heat pumps use less electricity than electric furnaces and baseboard heat.
Switching from fuel oil to a heat pump will save you around 950 per year. And switching from propane will save you around 850 per year. However, switching to a heat pump from natural gas doesn’t save much (100-200 per year depending), but due to the demands of the US Government to fast track America into the UN Agendas all electric initiative, those costs will start to rise over the next few years.
​
How to find rebates and incentives
The only downside of a heat pump is the initial installation cost, however in many states homeowners can get thousands of dollars in rebates and incentives from their local government, Energy Provides, and Manufacturers rebates. These rebates can more than offset the difference in cost basically paying for the upgrade in the first place. So it is a win-win situation, or should I say get paid and save situation.
To see your states or energy providers rebate offers visit the DSIRE website and search for your state and filter for residential energy efficiency. Alternately you can search Goggle for “[your state] heat pump rebates and incentives.”
We also offer links to some of our local energy providers HERE.
Contact James Heating Cooling And More for more information or a free estimate for your heat pump installation or HVAC installation needs.
We look forward to meeting you.