Minnesota utility promotes heat pumps to tackle winter heating load
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The Thief River Falls City Hall is one of three city facilities to install a geothermal heat pump. An extensive renovation, including the heat pump and new windows, converted the 1914 train depot to a modern municipal facility. (Photo courtesy of TRF Utilities)
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Energy conservation programs take money and staff to implement, so a utility the size of Thief River Falls, Minn., Utilities needed a very good reason to throw itself into the all-out promotion of ground source heat pumps to its 4,200 customers.
That reason was simply stated by Utilities Director Arlo Rude. "We were looking for a conservation tool that would help our customers," he said. "Geothermal heat pumps can heat a home using about one third the energy of conventional systems,"
For the last several years, Thief River Falls has provided low-interest loans and incentives to customers installing or retrofitting ground source heat pumps. The current program offers up to $8,000 at 5-percent interest and a rebate of $2,000 to offset the cost of installing the system's external loop field.
Program started for state requirements, expands for customer interest
The job of designing the program fell to Customer Service Representative Allan Newton. Newton does everything from installing readers for demand side management systems and responding to billing complaints to designing incentive programs. "My role is similar to the members services manager in a co-op, except that I'm the only person in my department," he explained.
Although Newton was familiar with heat pumps because he has an air-to-air system in his own home, he had no experience with geothermal technology. His interest was piqued when the member services manager at Clearwater-Polk Electric Co-op told him about the advantages of ground source pumps. Then Minnkota Power Cooperative, Thief River Falls' power wholesaler, sponsored a two-day class on heat pump installation. His background in electricity and construction made Newton the logical choice to attend the training.
Minnkota encouraged its customers to promote the technology as a way of complying with the state's Conservation Improvement Program. Passed in 1998, CIP requires municipal and investor-owned utilities to invest a percentage of their gross earnings in energy conservation. Local representatives are also working with the state Legislature to qualify heat pumps as a renewable technology.
Newton attended Minnkota's class along with two local contractors, who became interested in the technology because of customer inquiries. Later, he became qualified to train contractors to install heat pumps at a weeklong program in Stillwater, Okla. The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association offers the training through Oklahoma State University. "Stillwater has been a driving force behind geothermal heat pumps for years," he noted, adding, "Now Brookings [South Dakota State University] offers certification classes, too."
Thief River Falls has three active contractors qualified to install heat pumps, and two more who are getting trained. The utility didn't have to sell them on the idea, stated Newton. "They just saw the market for it."
Rising natural gas prices increase heat pump popularity
Customers learned about the efficient heating and cooling system from radio ads the utility placed and from the certified contractors who established vendor contacts. "They're set up now to enter some numbers in their computer systems and give customers a printout showing the initial investment, energy savings and payback time," Newton said.
Relatively low energy prices proved to be the biggest obstacle in persuading homeowners to make the move to heat pumps. The rising price of natural gas has started to change that, however. "I had two customers who were accountants. They crunched the numbers and figured out that they were going to save $30 to $60 a month with heat pumps," recalled the customer service rep. "The units do a really efficient job of heating, which is what people in this part of the country need."
Over the program's seven-year run, 10 homes in Thief River Falls installed heat pumps; three retrofitted and seven were new structures. In addition, Newton helped Clearwater-Polk install geothermal systems in some new homes in the REC's service area. "They were large homes built on an acre or more, so there was plenty of room for the loop field," Newton explained, "and the owners plan to stay in the houses for the long-term, so they will recoup their installation costs."
The town's elementary school, the utility's shop building and the city hall have installed ground source heat pumps also. The city hall is located in an old train depot in downtown Thief River Falls. The heat pump was part of an extensive renovation that converted the 1914 building to its current use.
In spite of all the inroads the ground source heat pump has made in Thief River Falls, the utility will continue promoting the technology. "Not all the contractors have gotten on board," explained Newton. "I guess it's new and different, and they're doing fine with what they know.
"But if you don't promote a system, it doesn't get used. We want customers to call us first so we can explain why ground source heat pumps are worth the investment."
