Vermont leads the NE region in heat pump installs

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A new report shows Vermonters are opting for heat pumps in a big way. Efficiency Vermont says the Green Mountain State has more heat pumps per capita than any other state in the Northeast.

At Energy Co-op of Vermont, service manager Joe Cobb says heat pumps have taken the main stage. “For a small company, it’s a huge portion of our business now,” he said.

Heat pumps, which use electricity rather than fossil fuels, have gained popularity as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional heating and cooling systems.

Cobb says their five technicians have been staying busy, installing around 300 pumps annually in recent years. He believes government incentives, including from Efficiency Vermont, are a big factor in their popularity. “I think last year, the new federal tax credits that were out there really drove a lot of people that were maybe on the fence a little bit about whether this was right for them or if they can afford one. It helped give them that push to the next level,” he said

According to Efficiency Vermont, the state has over 63,000 heat pumps in homes and businesses and 2023 set a record with over 11,000 new installs.

Efficiency Vermont’s Matthew Smith says a collective effort among manufacturers, retailers, and contractors to streamline heat pumps and offer rebates has made the device so popular.

“I think the secret sauce is building those relationships over a decade to make it smooth, easy, predictable. And I think that’s what makes it so accessible for Vermonters, not to mention affordable.”

Smith anticipates over 12,000 heat pump installations in 2024. Contractors like Cobb are feeling the pressure to keep up. “Unfortunately, we can’t always get to people as quickly as we’d like to. We try really hard but when we’re in those busy seasons, you know, it can be five or six weeks waiting to get an estimate. It can be a couple of months waiting for an installation,” he said.

With contractors already stretched thin repairing flood damage, Smith says more work is needed to expand the workforce for heat pump installations. “There’s acknowledgment from lawmakers, from the governor, from Efficiency Vermont, and contractors that the whole state needs to step up to really meet the workforce needs,” he said.

Those heat pump numbers are likely to increase after last year’s passage of The Affordable Heat Act, a Vermont law that seeks to wean Vermonters off heating with fossil fuels by making it more expensive.