The Hendersons, of Kirkland, WA, were recently faced with a big decision when it came to their home heating system. Their electric furnace had died and required extensive repairs to get it up and running again. Rather than spend a large amount of money repairing a system that wasn’t very cost efficient, they opted to have a new Trane heat pump and air handler installed.
Old electric furnace replaced by new Trane Air Handler
The Hendersons enlisted the BelRed installation team to install a Trane XL16i Heat Pump and a Trane Hyperion XL Air Handler – both top-level solutions. The Trane XL16i Heat Pump offers an extremely efficient home heating and cooling system. Its two-stage cooling and heating technology offers the ability to manage temperatures in all rooms of the house very easily and efficiently. In fact, the XL16i is one of the most efficient heat pumps on the market. The Trane Hyperion XL Air Handler will work in conjunction with the Henderson’s new heat pump to help circulate air more evenly throughout their home. Its unique design is unlike anything else on the market today. With its double-walled cabinet design and embedded insulation, it is actually built much like a high-end refrigerator. This technology not only maximizes comfort and efficiency, but also ensures the system runs extremely quietly while it is improving the comfort in the home.
new Trane heat pump
In order to complete their brand new, extremely efficient and effective heating and cooling system, the Hendersons had our BelRed team add on the Trane CleanEffects air cleaner. This air cleaner removes up to 99.98% of allergens in the air and has an industry-leading clean air delivery rate. Along with effective sealing of their duct system, it will ensure the Hendersons won’t have any excess dust, pollen or other respiratory irritants floating around their home. Plus, the Trane CleanEffects has a very low operating cost and doesn’t require replacement air filters, making the path to cleaner, healthier and more comfortable air very easy.
The Hendersons will certainly notice a big difference between the monthly cost of their new heat pump system and their old electric furnace system. In fact, according to the Snohomish County Public Utility District, electric heat pump systems are the most cost effective way to heat and cool a home in this area. In some cases, the annual cost of operating an electric furnace could be more than double that of an electric heat pump system. You can view the chart from PUD below for a great cost comparison of different home heating and cooling solutions.
Even though this Trane system was a higher cost option up front for the Hendersons, they will experience lower monthly bills and much better indoor air quality and comfort moving forward. If you’d like to find out more about this (or any) heating system, don’t hesitate to contact us today.
This chart shows a comparison of annual home heating fuel costs based on the most recent information obtained from suppliers in Snohomish County. The chart also shows that electric heat pumps continue to provide a very cost-effective heating source. (Electric costs based on PUD winter billing rate of 8.852 cents per kilowatt-hour.) April 2012.
System assumptions:
- Electric heat pump: HSPF 8.5, $0.08852/kWh, 3413 Btu/kWh, 25% duct loss
- Gas Furnace: 80% efficiency, $1.40/therm, 100,000 Btu/therm, 25% duct loss
- Electric baseboard: 100% efficiency, $0.08852/kWh, 3413 Btu/kWh
- Propane furnace: 80% efficiency, $2.80/gallon, 92,000 Btu/gallon, 25% duct loss
- Electric furnace: 100% efficiency, $0.08852/kWh, 3413 Btu/kWh, 25% duct loss
- Oil furnace: 80% efficiency, $3.50/gallon, 139,000 Btu/gallon, 25% duct loss
