NATIONWIDE — Thinking about installing a heat pump and reaping the money-saving awards?

The federal government, in its Inflation Reduction Act, will—ahem—pump $250 million into the economy to accelerate the manufacture of domestic electric heat pumps.

“Rapidly increasing the U.S. manufacturing output and deployment of electric heat pumps is critical to achieving U.S. climate, energy savings and energy security goals,” stated a press release from the U.S. Department of Energy. It could reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, strengthen national defense and energy security, reduce heating and cooling bills and mitigate the climate crisis.

“Ending America’s overreliance on other nations to power our clean energy future requires decisive actions that prioritize our national security and economic prosperity,” said energy secretary Jennifer Granholm. “These dollars are ready to invest in American-made clean energy technologies and our workforce to ensure lower energy costs and cleaner air and water for every American.”

The national defense imperative to strengthen domestic clean energy manufacturing has become more urgent as Russia’s war on Ukraine and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains, increasing prices and underscoring the dangers of our overreliance on foreign adversaries, according to the press release.

Heat pumps offer an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners. The pumps use electricity to transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer. Because heat pumps transfer heat rather than generate heat, this technology efficiently provides comfortable temperatures for heating and cooling homes and businesses, the press release stated.

Electric heat pumps can provide high-efficiency heating in freezing temperatures, while cutting local air pollution and greenhouse gases and potentially saving families hundreds of dollars a year on their utility bills.

Read more about heat pumps at https://riverreporter.com/stories/leave-that-heat-pump-thermostat-alone-in-winter,17642?.