Page 31 - BusinessWest June 10, 2024

“We’ll still rely on combustion, at least for the next 10 years.”
A heat-pump conversion can cost to to three times more up front than replacing one fossil-fuel system with another, he noted, which is why those rebates and incentives are so critical. And the Mass Save program recently committed to a three-year plan in which rebates will not decrease.
“There’s been a lot of training for our sales and estimation staff, manufacturer trainings, climate-initiative trainings from Mass Save,” Cernak added.
In addition, “it’s been a different mindset for people heating their homes. With fossil fuels, it’s very easy to make heat, it’s very effi- cient, and people feel that warmth right away. Heat pumps are different. You’re harnessing electricity through the heat-pump system, and the heat isn’t as profound as the fossil-fuel heat. So there’s a level of adjustment for the homeowner. And you also need to make sure the house has good-enough infrastructure to support it.”
While heat pumps have replaced carbon fuels in many residential and commercial systems, Khan said, the efficiency remains a work in progress.
“They have improved in terms of coefficient
of performance, with how much heat you can extract from the out- side to the inside. That varies depending on the temperature out- side,” he added, explaining that, at very low temperatures, heating costs can rise dramatically. “With heat pumps, you can end up pay- ing a lot of money between December and February.”
One way to combat that, he added, is with water-to-air geother- mal heat-pump systems that draw on the stable temperature of the earth’s ground or water sources to provide efficient heating and cooling.
The other big shift in the HVAC world in recent years has been
Scott Cernak says a focus on indoor air quality and a move away from carbonization (in the case of heat pumps) are two major ongoing trends in the HVAC world.
an emphasis on indoor air quality, which was certainly accelerated during the COVID years, but had taken root even before then, Cer- nak said.
“Indoor air quality has become a focal point in our business as well. A lot of people with allergies and sensitivities have embraced
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