Coming soon to 50 coastal communities is a chance to cash in on $39 million in funding for heat pumps. Skagway residents met to understand how heat pumps work and if they’re feasible in the small town.
Clay Good is an energy catalyst for the non-profit Sustainable Southeast Partnership. He visited Skagway Development Corporation last month to talk about energy savings in homes, and discuss the idea of heat pumps.
“Any show of hands – folks here, who are interested in particular about heat pumps, or considering getting one?” Good asked. “Okay. Heat pump curious is not a new thing. Everybody’s talking about it.”
Before broaching heat pumps, Good started with less exciting conservation basics: timers on exhaust fans, plastic film over windows, filling gaps, programmable thermostats, turning water heaters down to 120 degrees and covering them with a water heater blanket.
He also had advice for light bulbs.
“If you don’t have LEDs in your house, you’ll want them, unless you’re trying to keep your chickens warm,” Good said.
He added the sage wisdom many a child has heard from their parent.
“Or, as my parents would say … put on a sweater, damn it.”
Nick Russell works for Clear Water Plumbing and Heating in Haines, He says he has installed about 15 heat pumps in Haines in the past two years. He explained how a heat pump works.
“So, if you’ve ever noticed that you put your hand or your foot at the bottom of your refrigerator, how you have that warm air coming from underneath or behind the refrigerator, and then when you open the door, it’s cold inside,” he said. “What you’re really doing with the heat pump is reversing that process … you’re putting the heat inside the house and the cold that would normally be inside, outside.”
Russell said it’s important to have a model rated for the Alaska climate, and a backup source of heat for when it reaches extreme temperatures.
“We try to tell people that this should not be your only heat source, but it can be a primary heat source with a wood backup, or a space heater backup or something … There’s maybe a week out of the year that it just doesn’t quite have enough to keep up when we see those negative temperatures for the extreme cold. But the rest of the year, they do just fine.”
He notes that a heat pump also works as an air conditioner and dehumidifier. It circulates the air, which can remove allergens and prevent mold.
Unlike Haines, Skagway doesn’t have a plumber. As a result, Skagwegian Liz Lavoie has found it difficult to move forward with the heat pump process. She had a virtual consultation where the type and placement of the heat pump was determined.
“But when I actually started calling around to see who did it, it was like crickets. … There was an installer, a name had been given to me, and I called him, I left messages, I left messages,” she said. “And I saw him at the airport, and I followed him to his van.”
She joked that she paused the process so she didn’t become a stalker.
Jacob Watson, former program manager for Skagway Development Corporation put together a pamphlet that outlines the costs for various heating methods. He says that right now, Skagway contractors recommend pellet wood stoves.
“I reached out to many contractors in town, and I asked them, ‘What is the thing you recommend for heating in your home?'” he said. “Most of the ones I reached out to did not recommend heat pumps. And the reason that they didn’t recommend heat pumps is the lack of installers in town and the energy prices.”
Skagway and Haines recently saw energy prices rise by 14.5%.
More information about heat pumps can be found at the Alaska Heat Smart Program website. The Accelerating Clean Energy Savings in Alaska Coastal Communities, or ACES program, opens this spring with a goal to cut energy costs and carbon emission by installing up to 6,100 heat pumps. Anyone interested can add their name to the website’s waitlist.
Everyone who applies to the program will have a home energy assessment to help determine the cost and benefit of installing a heat pump. Financial incentives range from $4,000 to $8,500. An income cap for the $4,000 range has not yet been determined.
