Plan How to Upgrade Your Heat Pump System Project Carefully
GreenHomes recommends improving your home’s insulation levels and reducing your home’s air leakage rate prior to installing high-efficiency heating/cooling (HVAC) equipment (as part of your heat pump system project). Why? First of all, improving insulation levels helps accurately match the furnace, heat pump or air conditioner size to the heating/cooling demands (also called heating/cooling loads) of your home.
Frequently, homeowners plan a heat pump system replacement or upgrade. Homeowners typically do not plan a swap-out. Therefore, homes with a reliable and modestly efficient heat pump system should start with air sealing and insulation. For example, air sealing and insulation helps lower the heating and air conditioning costs following a completed heat pump replacement.
As a result, when upgrading your older, existing heating/cooling system, GreenHomes recommends the following steps:
- Air seal and insulate your home whenever possible as part of the heating/cooling unit upgrade.
- Make sure an ACCA Manual J type of heating/cooling load calculation and an ACCA Manual S equipment selection is completed.
- Select a high-efficiency air source heat pump (15 SEER minimum for cooling and an 8.5 HSPF minimum for heating) or a high-efficiency ground source heat pump (17 EER minimum for a closed loop heat pump system and a 21 EER minimum for an open loop system. Also, on the heating side, geothermal heat pumps should be a 3.6 COP minimum for closed loop heat pump systems and a 4.1 COP minimum for open loop systems) as part of your upgrade.
- Include duct sealing and duct insulation as part of the heat pump upgrade.
- Don’t forget - Proper maintenance of your new heat pump system is important!