While heat pumps are most often seen as a refrigerator or air conditioner, recent advancements mean they have a large range of uses including cooling, producing hot water and even industrial steam. Heat pumps are becoming the much more progressive method of heating and cooling as they offer a solution to rising gas prices.
The Australian Government is frequently releasing incentives to encourage people to make the switch to heat pump technology because of their energy efficiency and environmentally friendly solutions
Alan Pears, a consultant to the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity and Energy Efficiency Council has estimated huge cost savings compared to other technologies: “Relative to an electric fan heater or traditional electric hot water service, I calculate a heat pump can save 60-85% on energy costs, which is a similar range to ACT government estimates.
Comparisons with gas are tricky, as efficiencies and energy prices vary a lot. Typically, though, a heat pump costs around half as much for heating as gas. If, instead of exporting your excess rooftop solar output, you use it to run a heat pump, I calculate it will be up to 90% cheaper than gas.”
To read the entire article by Alan Pears, view it on The Conversation’s website.
Pears, A. (2022) ‘Heat pumps can cut your energy costs by up to 90%. It’s not magic, just a smart use of the laws of physics’, The Conversation, 8th September.
