Commercial Heat Pump Options for Businesses

If you’ve noticed heat pumps appearing on homes across Maine, you’re on to something. Mainers are adopting this energy-efficient technology at an impressive rate, benefiting from lower heating costs and reliable performance — even in the harshest of winters. But did you know that heat pumps can be just as effective in commercial spaces?

While the core technology remains the same, commercial heat pumps come in several variations designed to meet the unique needs of different businesses. The best heat pump solution for your business depends on scale and installation space. A small café, for example, has different heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) needs and installation constraints than a multi-story office building or a museum. Here are some common commercial heat pump options:

Mini-Split Heat Pumps

These heat pumps are ideal for businesses of many sizes, but excel as an HVAC solution in smaller businesses, such as cafes, retail shops, and offices. Mini-splits are ductless, versatile, and easy to install. Just like their residential counterparts, these systems include an outdoor unit and one or more indoor units. Indoor units can come in a variety of configurations to fit the needs of the space. Typically, these units are mounted either to walls or nearly flush within ceilings.

Packaged Terminal Heat Pumps (PTHP)

Commonly found in hotels and motels, PTHPs combine indoor and outdoor units into a single, through-the-wall system. These self-contained units eliminate the need for ductwork and avoid the challenge of installing an outdoor unit and running refrigerant lines. Because of this, PTHPs can be installed relatively quickly. Moreover, PTHPs can often be a direct replacement for aging and inefficient packaged terminal air conditioners. For businesses with limited space, another configuration – vertical packaged terminal heat pumps (VPTHPs) – offer a more compact design to fit narrower spaces. 

Heat Pump Rooftop Units (HP RTU)

If you have an older fossil-fuel rooftop unit, or RTU, you can also take advantage of heat pump technology to improve your HVAC system. Heat pump RTUs leverage your existing ventilation and ductwork systems to help lower your operating costs and improve system reliability. This option is an economical choice for buildings with older RTUs interested in efficiency upgrades. They can be installed in new construction projects, too.

Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) Systems

Alternatively, if you are seeking a more versatile solution for larger buildings, like office buildings, schools, or manufacturing facilities, VRFs may be the ideal system. They can heat and cool different areas simultaneously, optimizing energy use by transferring excess heat from warmer zones, such as sun-exposed rooms, to cooler areas or zones within a building. This makes them an excellent choice for large buildings with many smaller spaces.

Heat Pump Water Heaters (HPWHs)

On a related note, if your business requires a steady supply of hot water — such as a hotel, restaurant, or healthcare facility — HPWHs provide an efficient, cost-effective solution. They use the same technology as heat pumps to provide hot water. Efficiency Maine offers incentives on HPWH units with integrated storage capacities ranging from 50 to 120 gallons. Moreover, HPWHs with 80-gallon storage can come as a single unit or as a split system, much like mini-split heat pumps mentioned above.

All in all, the same energy savings homeowners enjoy with heat pumps can also help lower your business’s operating costs. Efficiency Maine’s Commercial and Industrial Prescriptive Initiatives (CIPI) offers financial incentives to make heat pump technology more affordable for your business.

Want to learn more? Schedule a virtual consultation with Efficiency Maine to explore your options, or if you’re ready to get started, connect with an Efficiency Maine Qualified Partner today.

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