TracPipe™ Bonding “Part II”

Burt Robertson, HVAC Marketing Manager

With today’s uncertainty of heating fuel prices you need to look for ways to give your customer alternate sources for heat. The next time you get a chance to quote one of your customers a cooling only system or upgrade their furnace rethink the options. If you are upgrading the oil or gas furnace to a higher efficiency unit and you are also quoting a cooling system think HEAT PUMP. The price of electricity is looking a lot more attractive then fossil fuel which makes the heat pump very attractive.

A heat pump is the same as a cooling unit with a few additional components which reverse the flow of the Freon which takes heat out of the indoors in the cooling mode and discharges it outside. In the heat pump mode it removes the heat from outdoors and discharges it indoors. With an average COP of over 2.5, it means for each $1.00 spent on electric you could get up to 2.5 times back in heat from the heat pump system. We can supply you a copy of the bin temperature hours for our area.

This shows the number of hours we spend in each temperature bin for our area. You will be surprised to see we spend the most time above 30 degrees which makes a heat pump a perfect option for your first stage of heating and the fossil fuel will come on as the second stage. This can also be done when you are adding a cooling system in a house which has hot water heat.

Quote three options: the cooling only, the heat pump with electric heat, and a cooling only air handler with electric heat. Give your customers the facts and let them choose what will be best for them. We have seen in the past years the homeowners at the gas station buying heating fuel in a 5 gal can because they can’t afford to get a fuel oil delivery. With the options you give your customers, they will save on the cost of heating their home this coming year. Let the heat pump run down as low as it will go, then it will switch to second stage in the coldest part of the day. This is a win-win situation for both you and your customer. Keep in mind your customers still need to tighten up their homes with insulation and good windows to keep all the heat in they can.