American Homes Need Heat Pumps, Not Space Heaters | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.

Electric resistance heating warms rooms directly, while heat pumps move heat from outdoor air or underground sources into homes. Energy experts recommend replacing gas furnaces and boilers with heat pumps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve health. A report from RMI finds that one in five U.S. homes relies primarily on electric resistance heating. Switching these homes to heat pumps would save households about $1,530 per year on average and reduce national costs by about $20 billion annually for single-family homes. The change would also lower electrical grid demand and reduce total home carbon emissions by about 40 percent, improving comfort and efficiency while using less energy.

"Energy experts say that to bring down greenhouse gas emissions and improve human health, we need to replace toxic gas furnaces and boilers with heat pumps ASAP. Less talked about, though, is that we also need to replace those giant toasters with giant reverse refrigerators, which would make homes more comfortable and more efficient, and therefore cheaper to heat."

"According to a new report from the nonprofit energy group RMI, one in five homes in the United States is heated primarily with electric resistance heating. Replacing those devices with heat pumps would save households an average of $1,530 a year, or $20 billion annually across the country. (The calculations included only single-family homes, not multifamily units like apartment buildings.)"

"At the same time, demand on the electrical grid would fall significantly, while total carbon emissions from homes making the switch to heat pumps for climate control and water heating would plummet by about 40 percent. "There's a lot of benefits to the grid, which translate to lower rates as well," said Ryan Shea, a manager in RMI's carbon-free buildings program. "Then, of course, there's using less energy.""

"Electric heat pumps work their magic with a trick of physics: By changing the pressure of refrigerants, they draw warmth from outdoor air or liquids coursing underground, then bring it indoo"

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