News > Look to Your Air Conditioner for Heat and Savings This Fall

Look to Your Air Conditioner for Heat and Savings This Fall

As the leaves begin to change and the temperature starts to drop we don’t usually think our air conditioner is the key to efficient heating. It’s not usual to think it will keep our homes warm when the frost settles overnight. But converting your air conditioner to an air source heat pump can do just that. As you consider your heating options this fall, Stearns Electric Association recommends taking a look at an air source heat pump with a plenum heater as one of the most energy efficient and cost effective solutions.
 
Installing an air source heat pump doesn’t just keep your home comfortable, it can save you money. It can cool and heat your home while using 72%* less energy than a conventional furnace. This eye-opening fact is especially important considering heating and cooling account for more than half the total energy consumed within a typical household.
 
When properly installed, an air-source heat pump can deliver two to three times more heat energy to a home than the electrical energy it consumes, making it 200-300% efficient. Compare that to your standard fossil fuel furnace that is 90% efficient. This is possible because a heat pump moves heat rather than converting it from a fuel like combustion heating systems do.

Heat pumps work on the very same principles as your refrigerator. Using a series of fans, refrigerant, coils and a compressor, a refrigerator pulls heat from the air inside and pumps it out the back. When cooling your home in the summer, a heat pump does the same, pumping heat from indoor air outside.

This process is simply reversed for the purpose of home heating thanks to a special valve that changes the direction of refrigerant flow. Even when air temperatures near zero, the heat pump harvests hidden heat in the air outside and transfers it into your home so you can run your furnace less. In fact, with an air source heat pump you may not need to run your furnace at all during the spring and fall.

Installing an air source heat pump alone will satisfy about 60% of your heating needs and will run 80% of the year. Integrating a plenum heater (electric heater installed in your duct system) with your air source heat pump allows you to leverage the high efficiencies of your heat pump year-round.

An air source heat pump is one of the most efficient systems available. Combine it with Stearns Electric’s EnergyWise Programs, which offer nearly half price electricity, and you’ll save both energy and money this heating season and beyond.

Now through November 30, Stearns Electric is offering increased rebates up to $1200 when you install an air source heat pump with a plenum heater. Learn more by visiting www.stearnselectric.org or calling our EnergyWise Team during regular business hours at (320) 363-4630 or (800) 448-1737.