Clean Heating and Cooling

Learn how commercial heat pumps can provide a more comfortable work environment

How It Works

Using oil, propane, or natural gas to heat and cool your business? Commercial and industrial heat pumps make it possible for businesses to keep employees comfortable year-round, save energy, and reduce their carbon footprint. Heat pumps work by drawing heat from the environment and moving it indoors to heat or moving it outdoors to cool your building.

Heat pumps are designed to work efficiently in cold climates like New York – and there are several types of technologies on the market. There are also large-scale commercial water heaters that use heat pump technology. Here’s a closer look at how heat pumps work and their benefits for businesses.

Air Source Heat Pumps

Cold-climate air source heat pumps extract heat from the air outside and distribute it inside buildings. This process is reversed during warmer months to provide cooling by drawing heat out of a building’s interior.

Air source heat pump systems can be configurated to different building layouts and designed to either replace the current system or provide supplemental heating and cooling. Businesses with existing ductwork can install a ducted air source heat pump, which connects to an outdoor compressor, to serve the entire building in place of a furnace or air-conditioning system. Ductless air source heat pumps, often called “mini-splits”, are typically mounted to the wall to serve one room or area of a building.

Geothermal For Commercial Buildings

Geothermal heat pumps (also called “ground source heat pumps”) deliver space heating and cooling by exchanging heat with the ground or a groundwater source through an underground pipe system. By using the relatively constant ground temperature (around 55°F), the system operates more efficiently than electric baseboards and oil, gas, and propane furnaces . Geothermal systems require minimal maintenance and typically last longer than conventional furnaces and central air conditioners.

Commercial geothermal heat pumps can be sized to provide 100 percent of a businesses’ heating and cooling load without a backup system. They’re compatible with new construction or retrofits, and can vary in scale from building-specific to community heat pump systems.

Heat Pump Water Heaters

Heat pump water heaters use electricity to transfer heat from the surrounding air to water in an enclosed tank. These systems are two-to-three times more efficient than conventional electric resistance water heaters, helping cut energy consumption and costs. Heat pump water heaters provide the added benefit of dehumidification if installed in a humid location, like a basement.

How You Benefit

• Reduce heating and cooling costs with a non-fossil fuel source
• Increase the life span of your heating and cooling equipment
• Create a more comfortable work environment with quiet, even heating and cooling
• Enable temperature customization and control for different spaces in your building
• Reduce your environmental impact with no combustion of fossil fuels, fuel storage, or carbon monoxide emissions

Programs and rebates are available to help your business install heat pumps and heat pump water heaters. Commercial heat pump rebates vary based on utility provider, building size, and whether a system provides partial or full load heating.

When You Should Consider It

Heat pumps may be good for your business if you are:

• Currently using oil, propane, or electric resistance for heating and cooling
• Experiencing issues with heating or cooling your building efficiently
• Approaching end-of-life for your heating and cooling systems or commercial boiler
• Searching for one system to fill both your heating and cooling needs
• Looking to reduce maintenance time—heat pumps require minimal maintenance
• Managing a building with different heating and cooling requirements 
• Undergoing a renovation or new construction project
• Trying to obtain or improve a green building certification for your building
• Interested in taking advantage of available commercial heating rebates