Air flow, that is. Air flow from the indoor portion, the air handler, of an air source heat pump. The ability of a heat pump to move heat not only into your home, but all around the inside of your home, is truly miraculous.
I’m quickly losing track of the number of times that I’ve heard ‘marvel-speak’ about the ability of a heat pump to warm a home. I can do the same ‘speak’ about my heat pump. How does it do it? How does the heat from my heat pump work its way across the room, turn a 180 corner, rise up the stairs, cross the bedroom, and find itself warming the distant master bath? Beats me, but it happens! The old diesel stove put out some hot air, but that heat didn’t seem to reach as far as the heat pump’s warm air can.
An early Juneau Carbon Offset Fund heat pump recipient told me that he wished he could dye the air in his home to analyze how the air moved about as the heat pump worked its wonders. Greg and family had a diesel stove in their living area. Above it, across the living area, were lofted bedrooms. One of his complaints was the fact that the diesel stove cooked the upper rooms and left the living area cooler than desired. Greg was concerned with the standard placement of the heat pump air handler high on the wall and was worried that the heat distribution would be even worse than before. It turns out that this was not the case. The living area stayed cooler, the upper bedrooms warmer. In short, the home’s heating was far better than before!
Similar stories have been shared by other Juneau Carbon Offset Fund heat pump recipients. “My daughter wants to stay home now ’cause the house is so warm,” one mother told me. “We haven’t run the space heaters in months,” I’ve heard, as “all the tucked away spaces now stay warmer and drier.”
“My kitchen is warm! My kitchen has never been warm!” This statement is from one of the newest Juneau Carbon Offset Fund heat pump recipients. Just last week two new homes received heat pumps from the Fund. Warm kitchens, warm (and helpful sign-holding) kids, dry spaces, reduced mold and mildew, lowered heating bills, removal of oil odors, removal of spill risks, local heat, local business, and so much more! That’s what this is all about!
These latest two homes will realize all of these great heat pump benefits. And, combined, these two homes will NOT rely on the combined 1000 gallons or more of ‘imported’ diesel oil that have heated them in years past.
A big shout out to Coeur Alaska and the Kensington Mine for their carbon offsetting and help in making these families warmer and drier! And, a big thank you to Panhandle Heat Pumps, Pleasants Plumbing and Heating, and ALCAN Electric for their great work in firing up these new heat pumps!