Smart Heat for Cold Winters: Dipping My Toes Into Cold Climate Air Source Heat Pumps

Through the years, as an energy efficient home builder, I’ve seen quite a lot of technology change and grow. Although they have been around since the 40’s, the technology of heat pumps have changed significantly over the last 15 years. This new breed of heat pump, the cold climate Air Source Heat Pump (ccASHP), became a blip on my radar after attending a builders’ conference early this year. My hesitation with using heat pumps in the past was that they would become inefficient once the temperature nears freezing — which happens quite often in our neck of the woods.

During a recent project, my clients asked about using a ccASHP in their new home. They have a family member who works at NREL (National Renewable Energy Labs), and recommended that they consider this new type of heat pump. NREL provides excellent information that prompted me to dig deeper and really delve into the research. If you haven’t caught on already with my blog posts on electrification and the all-electric house (read it here), I enjoy nerding out on this kind of stuff. Through my reading, I found out that a ccASHP is completely different from the pumps I had been familiar with in the past. These new heat pumps utilize inverter technology, and with it, they only start losing efficiency at 5 degrees Fahrenheit, and still can perform well even below zero. They also happen to be one of the most energy efficient air conditioners!

Cold climate Air Source Heat Pumps are a viable option when it comes to efficiently heating a home, especially a high-performance home, in colder environments. I would love to put them in every home that I create. However — and it’s a big however — although the heat pumps are highly efficient, our energy grid is not. As I talked about in the other blog post (check it out here), there is more research and development that needs to go into our power grid to make it as efficient as it can possibly be. That being said, should we stop using cold climate heat pumps until then? Of course not! Cold climate Air Source Heat Pumps are a newer and efficient source of heat, especially in our northern climate, and like any newer technology, we still have a lot to learn about them, as well as much to learn (and change) when it comes to our own electrical grid. I’ve posted this before, but because it is excellent information, you’ll find a link below to the EPA’s interactive webpage detailing the resources that are being used to create power in your own town or city. 

I could talk your ear off about this, so for those who are interested, check out the links posted below for further reading. Enjoy!

Peace,

-Charlie

NREL Article: Even in Frigid Temperatures, Air-Source Heat Pumps Keep Homes Warm From Alaska Coast to U.S. Mass Market

EPA Interactive Map: Power Profiler

My Other Blog Post: Electrification — The Modern Day Spin on the “All-Electric House”