Charlie Hazel has installed about 120 electric heat pumps in Wrangell homes over the past 11 years - including this one at his house.
Heat pumps, which can be a cost- and energy-efficient upgrade from traditional heating systems, are growing in popularity in Southeast Alaska - especially in Wrangell.
Charlie Hazel, one of two licensed contractors who installs the units in Wrangell, said when he moved to town in 2013, 60% of homes used electric boilers for heat. In the past 11 years, Hazel has installed around 120 electric heat pumps. For context, Wrangell has just over 1,000 residential properties.
While most models cannot efficiently heat a home when it is colder than minus 5 degrees outside - a handicap for Interior communities like Fairbanks - they are a good fit for Southeast, according to the Cold Climate Housing Research Center, located near the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Heat pumps include two large parts: an outdoor heat exchanger that sits outside of a house and an indoor heat exchanger mounted up high on an inside wall, the latter of which is the smaller and sleeker of the two.
"Because they use electricity to run a refrigeration cycle to transfer heat, instead of using electricity to create heat, they can reach efficiencies greater than 100%," the Fairbanks research center explains on its website. "Because most of the heat is transferred rather than generated, heat pumps are far more efficient than conventional heating technologies such as boilers or electric heaters and can be cheaper to run."
While prices fluctuate based on the unit and home size, Hazel charges around $4,500 for a residential installation. That includes the interior and exterior units and wiring.
A new boiler system can cost twice as much, he said, adding that monthly heating bills can fall by nearly 75% when customers make the switch from a boiler that circulates hot water through baseboard units to a heat pump.
Due to their energy-efficiency, the federal government encourages heat pump installations by providing tax credits.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act provides homeowners with a federal income tax credit of up to 30% of the cost of installation, up to $2,000. There are energy-efficiency guidelines to qualify for the federal assistance. Homeowners need to complete and submit an IRS form with their tax return to claim the credit.
According to Hazel, his clients often qualify for $1,500 subtracted from their federal tax bill the year after they install heat pumps in their homes.
Heat pumps generally create less dust because the fan constantly recycles the inside air rather than drawing in dirt with outside air. They have a lifespan of about 10 to 12 years, and Hazel teaches his clients how to properly maintain them.
What makes the heat pump so affordable is not that it's a cheap product: It is simply an efficient one.
Even on the coldest of days, heat pumps are capable of producing warm air inside the home. As a gaseous refrigerant running through tubing is compressed outside, its pressure and temperature rise, and that warmth is brought inside the house, disbursed by the indoor unit.
The system works in the opposite during the summer by drawing heat out of the home and sending it outside through the same tubing.
The operation can be automated or manually adjusted, depending on the homeowner's personal temperature preferences.
The units are particularly attractive in communities with stable electricity prices, like Wrangell, where hydro power from Tyee Lake serves the borough. The Snettisham hydro project powers Juneau, where about one in seven homes has a heat pump, according to Alaska Heat Smart, an energy nonprofit based in Juneau.
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