Mike Zeno and his wife, Darlene, live in a tidy cape-style home on a wooded lot in Colchester that was built in 1988. Mike heard about heat pumps and wondered if they might be a good replacement for his aging window air conditioners. He called Joe Cobb at the Energy Co-op and they settled on adding two heat pumps - one in the main living area downstairs and another in the hard-to-cool upstairs level.
For Mike, installing the two heat pumps seemed like an easy decision, "I knew I had to replace the old window air conditioners . The added bonus of not having to move and install the heavy, out-dated units each summer was also very appealing. In our case, the heating benefit of the heat pump in the winter was secondary to having reliable air conditioning in the summer. Plus, with the increased efficiency, we knew we'd be saving energy and reducing our home's carbon footprint year-round."
Now, Mike and Darlene are looking forward to some guaranteed comfortable sleeping temperatures and a cool place for Darlene and her friends to do their crafting upstairs. The money they saved on their heat pump installation with the generous incentives and rebates available and what they expect to save on winter heating fuel are one thing. But more importantly, the Zenos don't have to worry about staying cool and comfortable during that next summer heat wave.
Last September, the Energy Co-op installed two heat pumps for us – one to heat and cool our downstairs living space, one to heat our hot water. We are very, very happy with both units and highly recommend them. Our oil use has gone down by about 450 gallons a year, which gives us an excellent return on our investment.
