One Minneapolis woman recently discovered how comfortable her home can be in all seasons with the addition of a heat pump for heating and cooling, Canary Media reported.
Kathy Palmer used to rely on radiators and then in-floor radiant heating to warm her home, powered by the dirty fuel natural gas. While natural gas isn't as bad as some other fuel options, it releases asthma-causing fumes into our homes and heat-trapping gases into our atmosphere, overheating the planet. Plus, it's more expensive than using electric heating to produce the same amount of warmth.
So Palmer added a heat pump.
A heat pump is the king of electric heating options. Instead of turning electricity directly into heat, this system uses that power to pump heat in from outside the home, a much more energy-efficient way to get warm, even on the coldest days. For example, Palmer's system runs at full efficiency at temperatures down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit and can run at a reduced capacity down to minus 13 and lower, supplementing her radiators.
That's important in Minneapolis, which Canary Media called "the coldest major city in the continental U.S." due to temperatures that fall below 0 more than 20 days of the year.
Nick Bender, the contractor who designed Palmer's system, expects it to save her $500 to $800 per year, even though she'll be using the system for cooling in the summer as well. "In these older homes, there's a lot of savings to be had," he told Canary Media.
Meanwhile, the system will increase Palmer's property value by $20,000 to over $30,000, Bender estimates. Given that the system cost $25,000 before discounts, that means she can expect to recoup her whole investment if she sells while enjoying the energy savings in the meantime.
Plus, Palmer loves living with a heat pump. It warms up a room faster than her old system, and she can choose to turn the heat on or off in individual rooms for maximum comfort and control. "I really love having the different zones," she told Canary Media.
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With all these benefits, it's no wonder that heat pumps are growing in popularity nationwide. Maine and Vermont both offer rebates for heat pump installation. Maine has paid those rebates for more than 175,000 heat pumps since 2014, while Vermont's count is 10,700 for 2024 alone.
If you'd like to install a heat pump of your own, you can find installers near you for free using EnergySage's heat pump marketplace.
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