A heat pump was not on our radar when my husband and I decided to get an energy audit to see about ways of reducing the heating bills at our Portland home. It was the energy auditor who knew about them.

After analyzing our house with gadgets that measured heat loss, he gave us lots of good advice. His top two recommendations: Add insulation to the house and get a heat pump. We did. Both have paid off.

I should note, we are thifty and we do not mind our house being on the cool side.

My experience four years after installing a heat pump at our 1,700-square-foot, now-well-insulated house: Our electric bill has gone up, but not that much. Over the past year, our biggest monthly bill was $160, in January — about $40 higher than without the heat pump for that time of year.

Meanwhile, our oil use has gone down dramatically.

We used to burn between 650 to 800 gallons a year. We now use 200 gallons or less. Our oil is now our backup heat. (Confession: We close the doors to two rooms upstairs that are not in use, which keeps the heat in the other rooms.)

We are pleased with how our efforts turned out, but remember people’s experiences depends on several variables, including the interior of the house, insulation and homeowners’ temperature preferences.

 

 

 

 

 

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