University Research

Decarbonization Avenue University research @ CLIMAX

Could residential heat pumps be part of the climate solution?

Objective/theme

According to a new study, deploying residential heat pumps more widely across the United States has the potential to help reduce carbon pollution while also saving homeowners money

Process & benefits

What makes heat pumps efficient is that you usually can transfer two or more units of heat for every unit of work.

Switching about 30% of single-family homes to heat pumps right now would cut harms to the environment and human health and save households money.

About a third of single-family homes would benefit financially, after accounting for the extra cost of installing heat pumps relative to a gas furnace. All of those homes would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.