By Trevor McNally
Governor Mills announced on Tuesday that rebates given by the Efficiency Maine Trust for certain eligible heat pumps would double- going from $500 to $1,000 for the first heat pump installed, as well as from $250 to $500 for the second pump installed.
According to Efficiency Maine, more than 45,000 of these high-efficiency ductless heat pumps have already been installed in Maine homes and businesses over the last five years. This announcement is the latest push in the Blaine House’s energy efficiency initiative. The ultimate goal is to have 100,000 of the high-efficiency heat pumps installed in Maine homes alone by 2025.
“They’re pretty efficient units,” says Rob Graf, owner and operator of GRAF Mechanical Services based in Skowhegan. “ It’s pretty cool how it all works.”
How They Work
Ductless heat pumps extract heat from outside air and deliver it indoors in the winter. Conversely, they can also extract cool air from outside and deliver it indoors in the summer or in warmer climates- which is what they were primarily used for at first. But now these pumps can heat homes even when the outside temperature is as low as -15 degrees. They can achieve efficiencies well over 100 percent by moving rather than generating heat through electrical resistance or combustion.
“Ductless heat pumps consist of an outdoor unit connected to indoor air handlers by refrigerant lines, which carry heat between the two,” according to Efficiency Maine. There are four types of indoor units: wall units, floor units, ceiling cassettes and mini-ducts.
Savings + Efficiency
The estimated annual heating cost for a home with at least one ductless heat pump is $1,325 – compared to $2,250 for homes that use an oil furnace alone or up to $3,881 if you heat your home primarily via electric baseboard heaters.
“A high-performance heat pump can help an average Maine home reduce its oil consumption by 270 to 540 gallons per year,” according to the Portland Press Herald. “It can also reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 3,600 to 7,250 pounds per year per home for each high-performance heat pump.”
If the state can reach the goal of 100,000 residential heat pumps statewide, Maine homeowners could save as much as $30 million to $60 million annually, according to estimates made by the Efficiency Maine Trust.