Ludlow’s Jeffrey Grenier was just one of the many contractors from across the Northeast who made the trip to the Onion City on Wednesday, March 4, to get up to speed on some cutting-edge technology that will help keep people living in rural communities from going cold.”We’re excited about it,” Grenier said. “This is something that I’ve been doing for 15 years now, this air-sourced water stuff. I learned an awful lot, that’s for sure.”The first-of-its-kind summit was an opportunity to learn more about air-to-water heat pumps, or AWHP.”You know, we don’t use a campfire anymore to heat ourselves,” said Josh Reap with the Associated Builders and Contractors. “We use technology. We’ve evolved. This is the next step in that evolution.They are installed in Vermont homes and other buildings that rely on boilers for heating. Boilers deliver heat via hot water piped through the building. These new AWHPs will also provide hydronic or water-based cooling.”There are things you can do with hydronic systems that you simply can’t do with air-based systems. Things like buying electricity at off-peak rates when it’s very inexpensive, storing that energy, and then distributing it from storage,” said consulting engineer John Siegenthaler.The tech is also all-electric, which experts say is perfect for a state that prides itself on having a low carbon footprint and gets cold in the winter, very cold.”One thing that has changed in the last 20 years is the ability for these heat pumps to work in very cold climates, like Burlington, and actually even north of the Arctic Circle in some cases,” Siegenthaler said. Wednesday’s summit provided what would normally be competing businesses from across the state, a chance to show one another the ropes and work towards a common goal.”We’re helping the end-user. We’re helping the Vermonters. I mean, we’re all here for the end-user to have a nice home with efficient heat and efficient cooling,” Grenier said. Organizers say they hope to make the summit an annual event.
Ludlow’s Jeffrey Grenier was just one of the many contractors from across the Northeast who made the trip to the Onion City on Wednesday, March 4, to get up to speed on some cutting-edge technology that will help keep people living in rural communities from going cold.
“We’re excited about it,” Grenier said. “This is something that I’ve been doing for 15 years now, this air-sourced water stuff. I learned an awful lot, that’s for sure.”
The first-of-its-kind summit was an opportunity to learn more about air-to-water heat pumps, or AWHP.
“You know, we don’t use a campfire anymore to heat ourselves,” said Josh Reap with the Associated Builders and Contractors. “We use technology. We’ve evolved. This is the next step in that evolution.
They are installed in Vermont homes and other buildings that rely on boilers for heating. Boilers deliver heat via hot water piped through the building. These new AWHPs will also provide hydronic or water-based cooling.
“There are things you can do with hydronic systems that you simply can’t do with air-based systems. Things like buying electricity at off-peak rates when it’s very inexpensive, storing that energy, and then distributing it from storage,” said consulting engineer John Siegenthaler.
The tech is also all-electric, which experts say is perfect for a state that prides itself on having a low carbon footprint and gets cold in the winter, very cold.
“One thing that has changed in the last 20 years is the ability for these heat pumps to work in very cold climates, like Burlington, and actually even north of the Arctic Circle in some cases,” Siegenthaler said.
Wednesday’s summit provided what would normally be competing businesses from across the state, a chance to show one another the ropes and work towards a common goal.
“We’re helping the end-user. We’re helping the Vermonters. I mean, we’re all here for the end-user to have a nice home with efficient heat and efficient cooling,” Grenier said.
Organizers say they hope to make the summit an annual event.
