The U.S. Climate Alliance, which includes 25 state governors, along with the Biden administration, is leading a push to significantly increase the number of American homes using heat pump systems for heating and air conditioning.

The alliance's goal to quadruple the number of heat pumps in homes would take the number in use from the current 4.7 million to 20 million by 2030.

Heat pumps use little electricity compared to other heating and ventilation systems. Since they often replace oil or gas furnaces that add greenhouse gases to the air, they can meaningfully address climate change. Buildings account for more than 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The pledge on heat pumps is a collection of state initiatives to work toward the goal of ramping down emissions to zero by 2050. Pennsylvania and seven other states, for example, will look into developing a “clean heat” standard, meaning one for how non-polluting a heater needs to be.

The governors in the alliance represent approximately 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the country's population.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called heat pumps “almost a miraculous solution” to three problems Americans face, “heating in the winter, cooling in the summer, and a reduction of carbon pollution.”

The reason heat pumps run on less electricity than other forms of heating is that they merely extract heat from outdoor air or underground and transfer it inside, instead of heating up a coil, for instance. They are just as good at cooling, pulling heat from indoors and dumping it outside or underground.

“Even on a winter’s day, heat pumps can take heat from outside, move it inside, and use less energy than if you were heating your house with a furnace," said Stephen Porder, a professor of ecology and assistant provost for sustainability at Brown University. “A furnace makes heat by burning something, (but) moving heat is more efficient than making it.”

Because they help address climate change, heat pumps are highly incentivized under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which provides a 30% tax credit. Other states and utilities offer additional tax credits on top of the IRA incentive.

“There is already a huge increase in heat pump installations in the U.S. Heat pump units outsold gas furnace units, previously the most popular type of heating system, last year,” said Amanda Smith, a senior scientist at Project Drawdown, citing data from the International Energy Agency.

Alexandra Rempel, associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Oregon, agreed heat pumps are more sustainable than traditional heating and cooling systems, but they are not highly efficient in extremely cold regions.

“Overall, the benefits do outweigh the limitations in most places, but there are some limitations,” she said.

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