Getting Greener Using Ductless Heat Pumps

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Living green can mean an efficient heating system. The Japanese have used ductless heat pumps in their homes for the past 25 years. They are becoming popular; especially since most PUDs are providing incentives and financing to purchase them.

What makes these systems so good?

• Using electricity as its energy source, heat pumps are used for either the heating or cooling of your home by transferring heat between two reservoirs.
• In the warmer months, the heat pump acts like an air conditioner, removing heat from the air inside your home and transferring it outside.
• During colder months, heat from outdoor air is extracted and transferred to the interior of your home. Believe it or not, even a 32º Fahrenheit day produces enough heat to warm a home via a heat pump.
• Year-round, energy-efficient indoor comfort for moderate climates (like Seattle) - A ductless heat pump helps maintain comfortable temperatures inside a specific area or zone of your home by providing both heating and cooling all year-round. The inside unit to the system goes high on the wall or above the ceiling and provides comfort in the area that you spend the most of your time. Not the whole house.
• Cleaner air - As your ductless heat pump system draws air out of a specific area in the house through an air handler on the wall, the air is pulled through an air filter, which removes airborne particles such as dust and lint. Sophisticated plasma filters may remove odors and animal dander, as well. The filtered air is then routed to the zone being conditioned. Whenever the heat pump/air conditioner is running, this cycle repeats continually, constantly filtering and cleaning the air in a specific area of your home.
• Quieter operation - Because the compressor bearing unit of the ductless heat pump system is located outside the home, the indoor noise level from its operation is much lower than that of a free-standing or window mounted air conditioning unit. Most ductless heat pumps such as Fujitsu are considered to be whisper quiet.

Need more of reason to get a ductless heat pump? The Federal Tax Credit is $1500 when you purchase a system costing around $5000 including labor and permits. This credit ends at the end of 2010.

This information was provided to TIJ by Thomas Ebert, Snohomish Energy Services LLC., Ph: 360-563-9199