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Air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) are essentially reversible air conditioners. Just like an air-conditioner, in the summer they transfer heat from the air inside your home to the outside. In the winter they transfer and “concentrate” heat from outside air to heat your home.
Air-source heat pumps are the most common (see question number 1). Ground-source heat pumps use water in underground pipes as the heat source (or sink), rather than air. They are more expensive than ASHPs but are also more efficient. Ground-source heat pumps can be used for larger homes, for homes in colder climates (such as Colorado mountain areas), or for multi-family buildings or schools.
There are also “air-to-water” heat pumps, which are air-source heat pumps that transfer heat from the heat pump to water rather than to provide warm air. These systems are less common, but can be used to provide hot water for radiant heating systems.
Whether a heat pump makes sense for your home depends on your current heating system, location, etc. Installing a new heat pump system will not be cost-effective in some situations. Please see the Heat Pump Resources section above.
Heat pumps provide both heating and cooling, and they work very well for both, if designed and installed properly. However, a new heat pump does cost more than replacing a furnace. If your home has a natural gas furnace or boiler and is comfortable in the summer without air conditioning, then a heat pump may not make economic sense for you. On the other hand, heat pumps only cost slightly more than a central air-conditioning (AC) system. So, if you want to add AC to your home or need to replace your existing AC, choosing a heat pump makes a lot of sense, especially with utility rebates and federal tax credits. The heat pump will keep your home cool in the summer, while also helping to heat your home in the winter, with the same or lower heating costs and much lower carbon emissions.
A ducted heat pump system is very similar to a central AC system, and the heat pump works the same as the AC system during the summer months (providing cooling to the home). In the winter months, the heat pump is able to operate in reverse mode, drawing heat from the cold outside air, concentrating it, and warming the home.
Cold-climate heat pumps achieve better energy performance at colder temperatures than standard heat pumps, and they are designed for higher efficiency over the entire range of winter temperatures. The best cold-climate heat pumps provide 70-80 percent of the heat pump’s maximum heating capacity at temperatures as low as 5 degrees F.
For a new home in climate zones 4 or 5 (all areas of Colorado except for the mountain areas), a cold-climate heat pump system will work very well without a backup furnace. However, for an existing home in these areas with a gas furnace, it will probably be more cost-effective to keep the existing furnace as a backup.
Beneficial electrification is the third key element in state and local plans to achieve aggressive climate change goals. The first two key elements are: a) using energy as efficiently as possible, and b) reducing the carbon-intensity of the electricity grid through renewable energy sources. With lower carbon-emitting electricity, the third element – switching from fossil fuel use to electricity, in buildings and vehicles, results in significant carbon dioxide emission reductions.
Beneficial electrification means converting equipment from fossil fuel use to electricity use, when the conversion results in at least one of these benefits:
For an all-electric new home, the heating costs will be about the same or slightly lower than for a more traditional home using natural gas for heating. However, for most existing homes that install a new heat pump system, the heating costs with the heat pump may be slightly higher.