Heat pumps are heating and cooling systems that exchange
heat with either the air outside your home or the ground beneath it. This heat
exchange process provides heated or cooled air to maintain a comfortable indoor
environment for you and your family. Installing a heat pump can offer your
Columbus home many benefits, ranging from tax credits to ease the cost of
installation to a reduced dependence on fossil fuels for heating.
Heating, Air
Conditioning, and Hot Water
A heat pump is a single appliance that can replace both your
furnace and your air conditioner. Heat pumps draw heat from the outside air to
warm your home in the winter, but can run in reverse to cool your home in the
summer. Replacing both of these systems with a single unit is cheaper both
initially and over the long term, saving you money on maintenance, repair, and
replacement costs. Additionally, geothermal heat pumps can be used as water
heaters, providing your home with additional hot water and offsetting the
costs of using your water heater during the warm summer months. If your heat
pump runs consistently during hot weather, it may be able to meet all your hot
water needs during this time.
Reduced Fossil Fuel
Dependence
Heat pumps heat your home by drawing from the ambient heat
of the air or ground outside. This process reduces or eliminates the need for
an oil- or gas-burning furnace, which use fossil fuels to heat air for
distribution throughout your home. Installing a heat pump reduces your home’s
dependence on fossil fuels, which are a limited resource. The combustion of
fossil fuels also contributes greenhouse gases to the atmosphere; using a heat
pump reduces this contribution greatly. While you will need to use electricity
to run your heat pump, a heat pump’s carbon footprint is still significantly
less than that of a fossil fuel-burning heating system.
Federal Tax Credits
Currently, the Federal Government is offering a tax credit
of 30% with no upper limit on ENERGY STAR-qualified geothermal heat pumps
installed before December 31st, 2016. The tax credit is applicable for
geothermal heat pumps installed in both new and existing homes, as well as
primary and secondary residences. This tax credit is designed to offset the
initial cost of purchasing and installing the heat pump to allow families to
enjoy energy savings and lower long-term operating costs for heating and
cooling their home.
Heat pumps offer heating and cooling for your Columbus home
at lower long-term costs than maintaining a separate furnace and air
conditioner. If you’d like to learn more about your heating and cooling
options, check out the additional articles on our blog. You can contact an HVAC
specialist in the Columbus area to schedule maintenance, repairs, or
installation on our website.
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