Why Heat Pumps

Wondering if heat pumps are the right choice for your home or business? Learn more about heat pumps and why they are such a popular heating and cooling method these days.

How we heat our homes plays an important role in shaping a sustainable future.

Environmentally friendly

Heat pumps are extremely efficient in converting energy to heat and will therefore help you heat your house with less input. In the Northeast United States, it is estimated that heat pumps reduce the carbon footprint of your household by about 75% compared to a gas furnace. Pretty incredible, right?

Year-round comfort

Heat pumps can be used both for heating your house in the winter and cooling it in the summer. Heat pumps also dehumidify the air, which adds greatly to the comfort of your home during the humid summer months. They also filter the air, reducing the amount of dust in your indoor air, and increase air circulation.

Cost-efficient

Heat pumps are cheaper to operate than a gas or propane furnace. While your electricity bill will increase, your overall heating costs will decrease. It’s good to notice that the initial cost of a whole house heat pump system is usually more expensive than an oil furnace, but heat pumps will pay themselves back quicker.

Easy to operate

While an oil furnace might feel a little intimidating to many of us, heat pumps are very user friendly and easy to operate with a remote control. Moreover, the best efficiency is achieved by keeping the temperature at a constant setting, so once the temperature is set to ideal comfort, you won’t really need to adjust it throughout the season.

Guiding you through the project

Need help in selecting the right heat pump units for your home or business? Our experienced heat pump pros are happy to talk more about your options and help you find the optimal units for your space.

FAQs

What are Efficiency Maine heat pump rebates?

Efficiency Maine offers a heat pump rebate program in order to support homeowners in Maine to upgrade from oil or propane to heat pumps for more efficient heating and cooling. The program offers rebates up to $8,000. The rebates are based on the homeowner’s income:

Low income – 80% of project cost up to an $8,000 lifetime rebate limit
Moderate income – 60% of project cost up to a $6,000 lifetime rebate limit
Any income – 40% of project cost up to a $4,000 lifetime rebate limit

Lifetime rebate limits are per housing unit. A housing unit is defined as having a dedicated kitchen, sleeping area, and bathroom.

For more information on the Efficiency Maine heat pump rebates: Whole-Home Heat Pump Incentives – Efficiency Maine

Do I qualify for heat pump rebates?

Maine Coast Heat is an Efficiency Maine Registered Vendor, which means that our heat pump installations are rebate eligible – as long as your house otherwise fills the criteria for the Efficiency Maine heat pump rebates.

To see the full list of criteria, visit Efficiency Maine’s website: Whole-Home Heat Pump Incentives – Efficiency Maine.

In short, if the heat pumps will cover all or most of your heating needs, you will disconnect your oil or propane, the home is used year-round, and you haven’t received the maximum amount of heat pump rebates yet, you will most likely qualify for the heat pump rebates.

What is included in my free consultation?

Maine Coast Heat offers a free consultation to talk about the available options and help you select the right heat pump units to best suit your space and your individual needs. This often includes a site visit but can be done over the phone or email as well. We will also assess your eligibility for Efficiency Maine heat pump rebates (up to 80% of your project costs, max $8,000) and federal tax credits for heat pumps (up to $2,600).

My heat pump stops heating sometimes. What’s wrong?

The heat pumps are programmed to run a defrosting cycle every now and then to keep the outdoor unit running efficiently on cold weather. During the defrosting cycle, the indoor unit will stop heating and the heat is directed into the outdoor unit. Most brands have a blinking light or code that indicates that the system is running a defrost cycle. The defrost cycle typically last under 10 minutes and is nothing to worry about.

If your heat pump seems to be on defrost all the time or not at all, it’s good to get your system checked out.