To save the planet from catastrophic climate change and win the war against warring oil states, our best strategy comes down to the rapid introduction of three key technologies: electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and heat pumps. The first two technologies are dazzling and compelling and appear every day CleanTechnica articles and other publications (as appropriate).
Powerful heat pump
Two-thirds of energy consumption in buildings goes to space and water heating. Heat pumps can decarbonize this. Source: Energy Information Administration
Third, heat pumps may not be as spectacular as solar panels and electric vehicles, but they are just as crucial and sometimes only a fraction of the investment cost. Two thirds energy use of the building it is currently used for space and water heating, and heat pumps consume a quarter of the energy of other heating sources and run on electricity, which can (and is increasing) produced by renewable energy sources.
Heat pumps usually displace old, inefficient electrically resistant heating or fossil, fractured gas. But in the northeast there is another, significantly low-hanging fossil fuel that can also be replaced; a huge legacy of expensive heating oil used to heat homes and water.
Given that oil prices are at their peak of all time due to the Russian embargo, I wanted to go a little deeper into this fossil fuel that could be phased out quickly, so I sat down with staff from Maine efficiency. Maine is a leader in heat pump installations and conversions in the US and I wanted to understand the secret of their success and how the rest of the nation and the world could do it again.
Inherited heating oil
Maine illustrates the potential of converting our heating systems from fossil fuels, especially fuel oil. 60% of Maine’s 1.4 million residents, or 450,000 homes, rely on heating oil (source). This is the highest oil in the country heating per capita. My cousin, who moved to Maine last year, confirmed to me in his first-hand account that he spent $ 600 every few weeks this past winter to refill his barrel with oil even though his family’s house was set in the cold 63 degrees Fahrenheit ( 17 Celsius) during the winter in an attempt to save money.
Leaking oil tank – courtesy of the Maine Ministry of the Environment
Many New Englanders not only heat their homes with oil but also with water in their household. This means that families have to use their boilers all summer and burn expensive, polluting oil even when it is hot outside.
In the meantime, 79% (and the growth) of electricity in Maine comes from renewable energy and by using this renewable electricity in heat pumps to heat their homes and water, Maine residents consume half less than oil and one-third of propane showing a profound opportunity for the state and the state as a whole. Electricity costs less and is much better for the planet.
Stunning successes of the heat pump
People who see and are perhaps most excited about this opportunity are working at Maine efficiency, a state-owned, quasi-governmental organization that helps Miners save money by giving incentives for energy-efficient systems. Andy Meyer, senior program manager for the Efficiency Maine housing program, told me that 60% of water heaters sold in Maine are heat pumped water heaters. This is 30 times more than the national number, which is only 2%. Since 2013, Efficiency Maine has put down 47,000 heat pump boilers, the highest per capita in the United States. The Maine program is successful because it tackles the two biggest hurdles currently facing the transition to this key technology: cost and awareness.
Heat pump water heaters will save the average homeowner of $ 3,500 for a period of 10 years, but Efficiency Maine admits that rarely does anyone have the extra money to buy a water heater that costs $ 1,000 or more in advance, even if the cost-effectiveness is better than any 401k. This initial cost is a major hurdle, so Efficiency Maine works with distributors and large retailers to offer discounts and incentives that can reduce the cost of a heat pump water heater to the cost of a standard (aka old-fashioned) water heater.
But cutting costs only goes so far if people have never heard of technology. The efficiency of Maine is about heat pumps in a targeted, efficient way. It is not widely advertised, but targets customers who search for water heaters on Google and walk down the aisle of water heaters in stores because, as Andy says, “the only time someone thinks about their water heater is when they need a new one.” You can’t buy an electric water heater in Maine without hearing the Efficiency Maine message. They place banners in hardware stores, train hardware store staff across the country and offer access to a database of hundreds of installers.
Examples of how Efficiency Maine promotes water heaters with a heat pump. Photos courtesy of Efficiency Maine.
The proof is in the pudding, and the success of Maine shows what is needed for a national and even international strategy for switching to heat pumps. Through discounts, advertising and several other strategies to help low-income residents (which I will address in a future article), Efficiency Maine has shown us how to launch a successful program that brings heat pumps into homes.
What do all these heat pumps mean for saving the planet and winning the war
The rapid introduction of heat pumps, as in Maine, has surprising implications not only for the climate, but also for the geopolitical situation in which we find ourselves.
Approximately one third of the heat pump boilers sold in Maine replaced oil boilers, while the other two thirds replaced propane, natural gas and electric resistance boilers (which will free up the capacity of the network for those who convert to fossil fuels). Here’s where the background math envelope, which I’m a fan of, is having fun.
If we take the 15,666 oil boilers that Maine turned into heat pumps and multiply them by approximately 128 gallons of fuel oil (source) they will save a year, we get 47,000 barrels of oil a year that only the mighty little Maine saves only with water heaters with a heat pump.
For context, that’s enough to get you closer 4,000 cars in a year.
And if the U.S. became more ambitious and turned all the oil-fired boilers that serve homes and businesses in the U.S. into heat pumps, we could save 120,000,000 barrels oil per year. Incredibly, that figure is correct about half (47%) of the 255,000,000 barrels we imported from Russia or 2% our total national annual oil consumption.
There is no need to drill a baby drill, we just need to heat pump our demand for oil and in the process we will save Americans thousands on energy bills, reduce CO2 emissions and protect our national security. As the chart below shows, while we don’t use as much oil as the bell-ringing generation of the 1970s, we still haven’t discarded this expensive habit. It’s time to do it.
Why is fuel oil consumption not at zero?
Expanding our focus on Europe, we see how heat pumps and heat boilers could change the geopolitical game by eliminating the need for another fossil fuel – natural gas. That’s why Bill McKibben suggested sending millions of heat pumps to Europe using the Defense Approval Act and why the U.S. Department of Energy is funding projects in the Northeast this summer to help people switch from fossil fuel boilers to heat pumps.
Mighty Maine, with its cold climate and focus on efficiency, shows us how it makes the most geopolitical and environmental sense to move inefficient heating systems from the 20th century to efficient, clean heat pumps for space and water heating. Let’s follow in their footsteps and get to work!
Related: Water heater with heat pump is equivalent to saving energy 7 solar panels and price ⅙
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