Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | June 2, 2025 | wbjournal.com FOCUS ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Managing Editor O nce dismissable as a heating-and-cooling technology considered overly expensive and only useful in particu- larly constructed homes and particular environments, improvements in tech- nology, government incentives, and new energy-use mandates have helped heat pumps become a standard sight at both newly constructed and older buildings. For the first time ever, the amount of heat pumps shipped throughout the U.S. in 2022 surpassed the amount of traditional gas furnaces. Demand in Central Massachusetts is now spiking, as customers rush to take advantage of incentives and prices amid plans to cut federal funding. "Heat pumps are highly efficient," said Erik Bishop, owner of Erik Bishop Plumbing & Heating in Holden. "Now the government is pushing electric, electric, electric. e only way to get that is to go through heat pumps, because they've used such a low amount of electricity. ey produce so much energy out of low electricity. On new construction, it's a no-brainer." Heat pumps work by pulling heat from an outside source, which could either be air, water, or the ground, and bringing it inside to heat homes, or doing the opposite to cool a home. e technology can be traced back more than 170 years but has gained traction this century as a way to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and increase energy efficiency. Despite concerns about impacts of tariffs and cuts to federal incentives, heat pumps are becoming standard equipment in the heating and cooling business, helping the state meet energy goals while bringing Central Massachu- setts' older residential and commercial buildings closer to modern times. Technology and installation e median age of a Greater Worces- ter home is 55 years, with half of the region's housing stock having been built before 1967, according to a study released by Construction Coverage in January 2024. is median figure is 14 years older than the nationwide number of 41 years. While updating insulation in older homes is critical for energy savings re- gardless of heating and cooling sources, newer technology can help modernize Greater Worcester's older housing stock, said Bishop. "In the past with older houses, you would need a second source of heat," he said, "Now with this brand new refrig- erant we're transitioning to right now, it can keep up with demand." While the name of the technology might make people think more about heat pumps' heating ability, Central Massachusetts customers are more interested in their cooling ability, said Caroline Staudt, home comfort advisor at Elephant Energy, a Denver-based home electrification firm serving Central Massachusetts from a Greater Boston location. "We have a lot of homes in Massachu- setts that don't have any central cool- ing," she said. "People are still relying on window units. Heat pumps do both. A lot of people will come to us because of their cooling needs." While heat pumps can help keep old- er houses warm in the winter and cool in the summer, existing electrical infra- structure in these homes can oen be a hurdle needing to be overcome, Staudt said. "We're always evaluating the electrical system, be- cause we're adding, with a heat pump, a big electrical load to a home," she said. "Fossil fuel systems don't have a big electrical draw. So electrifying a home in Massachusetts is complicated, because sometimes we're dealing with homes that are 200 years old." In addition to coolant, other new technologies are improving heat pumps' usefulness, said Aslam Kolia, an electrification consultant at Eversource Energy, the Boston-and-Hartford-head- quartered utility company serving parts of Central Massachusetts. is includes quieter technology, duel-fuel systems that plug into gas lines when needed, or valuable speed pumps, which can be more efficient and lead to a more comfortable environment than older Cooler & warmer Amid steadily rising demand, heat pumps are reaching new heights this year as customers seek to use federal incentives before they possibly disappear Aslam Kolia, an electrification consultant at Ever- source Energy These circulator pumps were installed as part of a hybrid heat pump upgrade, helping to circulate hot water more efficiently and reducing energy use. PHOTO | COURTESY OF MASS SAVE

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