Ken and Carrie Lea and their two teens are the newest happy owners of the Juneau Carbon Offset Fund’s (JCOF) 21st carbon-reducing and money saving air source heat pump. It’s been less than a month since Coeur Alaska’s Kensington Mine paid for $35,000 in marine diesel offsets for their 2021 staff transportation. The Lea’s are the first Juneau family to benefit from Kensington’s support and climate-responsible action.

Sitting next to their valley home, but out of sight and underground, is the Lea’s 500 gallon oil tank. Both the age of the tank and its condition are total unknowns, a source of worry for both Ken and Carrie. The unknowns about the tank, the potential for a costly mess, and the desire for reduced heating bills, drove the Lea’s to JCOF. With only one income due to injury, the prospect of lower bills was a huge factor in their heat pump interest.

The average home with a simple one-to-one (1:1) air source heat pump realizes a heating bill savings of 50% or more. A 1:1 system is the most simple and the most cost effective. Consisting of an outdoor compressor connected by refrigerant lines to an indoor heat exchanger, these heat pumps are highly effective at taking the lion’s share of heating load from most homes. If your home has a large combined dining area and kitchen, with perhaps a nearby living room or family space, a 1:1 heat pump can displace the need for hundreds of gallons of annual oil. If you have another source of heat in back bedrooms and other spaces, it is often possible to wean a home completely off oil. With such weaning comes money saving, an increase in property value and saleabllity, reduced risk of spills, cleaner air, and a dryer living space.

Sounds like a win all around!