Ductless Heat Pump Efficiency and Energy Savings (Podcast)

Ductless Heat Pump Efficiency and Energy Savings

In this podcast, John Maher talks with Jesse Corso from N.E.T.R., Inc. about the efficiency and energy-saving benefits of ductless heat pumps. They explore how ductless systems compare to traditional heating, factors affecting efficiency, and the role of programs like Mass Save in helping Massachusetts homeowners reduce energy costs. They also discuss the importance of proper installation and maintenance in maximizing efficiency, along with advanced technologies like inverter compressors that enhance energy savings.

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher and I’m here today with Jesse Corso, comfort consultant with N.E.T.R., Inc. a heating and cooling company in Massachusetts with a focus on ductless heating and cooling product. Today we’re talking about ductless heat pump efficiency and energy savings. Welcome Jesse.

Jesse Corso: Hi John.

How Efficient Are Ductless Heat Pumps?

John: Just how efficient are ductless heat pumps when compared with traditional heating systems?

Jesse: So, I would say it depends. It definitely depends on what type of heating system you’re kind of dealing with. Currently, there’s a lot of different traditional heating systems from standard efficiency oil furnaces to high efficiency gas boilers. There’s a big fluctuation there. They’re really going to depend on what you’re doing now. And it also depends on the electric rate that you’re being provided. If you have solar or you don’t have solar, and then different parts of the Boston area have different electric rates.

So, I would say if you’re maybe working with 80% efficient oil boiler or oil furnace and we design a really nice heat pump system for you, you could see some energy efficiencies or you could see some savings, or you maybe break even depending on the price of oil that year. But compared to say a high efficiency 96, 97% efficient gas furnace or gas boiler, it’s still going to be hard to compete with that piece of heating equipment. But no matter what, you’re definitely going to reduce your carbon footprint. You’re definitely going to reduce your fossil fuel emissions. So if that’s something you’re looking for, heat pumps are definitely the way to go.

What Factors Influence Energy Efficiency in a Ductless System?

John: What are some of the factors that influence the energy efficiency of a ductless system?

Jesse: Definitely the size of the equipment that we put in, right? Smaller sized heat pump going to use less electricity. Larger systems are going to draw more. If it’s oversized or sized incorrectly, it’s going to probably draw more power, more electricity than if it’s sized appropriately for the space. Which sizing. That leads me to making sure, or we want to make sure we are doing a sizing calculation, a manual J, to size the heat pump appropriately because that can affect your efficiency. What is also going to change your energy efficiency is how tight your house is, how old your house is, how well insulated your house is. So if you have a house from the 1800s, it’s going to use a little more energy to heat and cool than a home built after 2000 or say.

Can Ductless Heat Pumps Reduce Energy Costs?

John: And can ductless heat pumps help to reduce energy costs during the heating season, or again, does it just depend on the type of fossil fuel system that you’re replacing?

Jesse: Yeah, there’s so many factors. It’s definitely going to depend on what you’re displacing for heat already. It’s going to depend on how well-built your house is. It’s going to depend on your electric rate. I’ve seen instances where we reduce energy costs. I’ve seen instances where we increase energy costs. Application, application. I would say some people don’t mind spending a little more to go green or not burn fossil fuel. They don’t mind spending a little more on their monthly electric bill compared to what they were doing previously with oil or gas. But then I’ve seen situations where they have, maybe you have a small ranch house that’s 1500 square feet or less and they get a big old oversized oil boiler or something. We can probably, and it’s well insulated, we can probably do a little bit better on energy savings.

How Can Mass Save Help?

John: Now if you’re replacing a fossil fuel system with a ductless system, Mass Save here in Massachusetts will actually help you with that, insulating your home and tightening it up and things like that. Right. So that could actually benefit you a lot by getting some savings on getting extra insulation and things like that done in your home.

Jesse: Yeah, I’m glad you brought that up. So I mean, the first step to getting off your fossil fuel is definitely going to be to have Mass Save out, do a home energy inspection, make insulation and weatherization recommendations first and foremost, get that completed, get the house well insulated. A lot of that is highly incentivized and very affordable to the homeowner. So, get that done first and foremost. And then we can come in here or we can go in the home, do the load calc to what the new insulation standards and values are, size something right for you and get you going that way. They also incentivize, Mass Save also incentivizes heat pump installations as well as the installation.

What Energy Saving Features are Available?

John: Okay. Are there any specific energy saving features or technologies that are available in ductless heat pumps?

Jesse: So, the energy savings in ductless, definitely it comes from the individual zones that you can have, right, load shedding. So turning off rooms you’re not using or setting them back to different temperatures when you’re not in those spaces is going to shed that load off the system. The compressor will speed, ramp down, not work as hard, draw less power. That’s where the energy savings comes from.

The outside condenser compressor is able to modulate like that using its inverter compressor technology, which means it can ramp up and ramp down with infinite speed and use or produce only as much heating and cooling as needed for the demand in the house. I mean, a lot of the time a year we’re heating in 30 degree weather, 20 degree weather and we’re cooling in 70 degree weather, 80 degree weather. So we’re not operating at extremes very often. That system can modulate, produce as much heating or cooling as needed. No more, no less. Reduce that energy consumption and that’s where you see the savings.

John: Right. So it’s not like a standard, like window air conditioner where it’s just on full blast and then when it reaches the temperature it might shut off for a few minutes but then turn right back on to a 100%. These are, like you said, that inverter technology lets it ramp down and just use a small amount of electricity to just maintain that temperature that you’re looking for.

Jesse: Yeah, exactly.

John: Yep.

Jesse: Exactly.

How Can Proper Installation and Maintenance Improve Energy Efficiency?

John: So, how can proper installation and maintenance of a ductless system contribute to energy efficiency as well?

Jesse: Well, we definitely want to, on the maintenance, we definitely want to make sure airflows proper. That’s a huge thing inside and outside. So those indoor units, they all have some sort of air filtration on them. We need to make sure we’re keeping those filters clean in order to move the required amount of air over the indoor coil that we need to maintain temperature in that space. So airflow inside is huge, but even airflow outside, so those outside units, those outside condensers, they have fans in them, they have coils in them as well. A lot of times they’re getting sucked up with pollen and dirt and debris from outside. So we want to make sure we keep those coils clean as well. And that’s just going to, the cleaner, those are the less electricity that outside unit’s going to consume to maintain.

John: All right, well that’s all really great information, Jesse. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Jesse: Yeah, thanks John.

Information About NETR

John: And for more information, you can visit the N.E.T.R. website at NETRinc.com or call 781-933-NETR. That’s 781-933-6387.