Hybrid Heating: Nothing But Hot Air
A Hybrid Heating System can lower your heating and cooling expenses by as much as 24%and fits the same footprint as a conventional forced air furnace and air conditioner.
Simple Is Better
Hybrid heating is a pretty basic concept using heat pumps to absorb heat from the outside air and pump it into homes in the autumn and spring seasons, replacing traditional forced air heating. Running a heat pump uses much less energy than running your furnace. In mid-winter however, it’s more energy efficient to run your furnace.
Doing The Math: $2,600 - $4,400 Or More In Your Pocket
"In a typical house (using MG&E’s '08 electricity and natural gas prices) a hybrid heat system will probably save around $370 when compared to a top of the line furnace and A/C split system during the course of one year”, says Sundstrom. “And, most likely, energy costs will increase in the future making the savings even greater."
A hybrid system is an investment of about $3000 more than the top of the line furnace and A/C split system. This means the system would probably pay for itself in just over eight years. Of course, the more the cost of energy increases, the quicker it pays for itself.
While the lifespan of a hybrid system is yet to be established (since they are still new to the market), the components that make up the system are very similar to a regular split heating and cooling system and they routinely last about 15–20 years.
If that is the case, over the lifetime of the system, a homeowner can reasonably expect to save $2,600 to $4,400 (with no increase in energy costs).
Size Matters
“If you are replacing an existing furnace and A/C system, the good news is, it will fit the exact same footprint as your existing forced air heat furnace,” Sundstrom adds. “The outdoor unit will be larger than your base model A/C unit, but the same size as your two stage top of the line A/C unit."
Operational settings are done at installation so the homeowner does not have to worry about monitoring the system. Settings can be changed at any time should there be a dramatic change in either electricity or natural gas prices. For example: If the price of gas goes up relative to the price of electricity, the system can be set to use the heat pump for a larger portion of the heating season.
“A hybrid system provides a dependable, heating and cooling solution using time tested technology, and, it pays for itself
easily in the first half for the effective life of the system.”
