Scientists from Michigan Technological University in the United States and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden published an article "Decarbonization of Rural Residential Buildings in Cold Climates: Technical and Economic Analysis of Heating and Electrification" in "Energy and Building" magazine to quantitatively evaluate isolated areas without natural gas supply in cold climates The technical and economic characteristics of solar heat pump solutions for residential buildings found that by adopting electrified solutions, owners can reduce heating costs by up to 20%.

The researchers explained: "In North America, most studies compare heat pumps with natural gas because of the dominance of natural gas for heating in urban areas. However, remote rural households who rely on more expensive fuel oil or propane are a better option for heat pumps. chance".

Their work particularly considered the remote areas of the Upper Midwest and Northeast of the United States, modeling and analysis in four scenarios. The four scenarios are: propane meets all heating requirements (benchmarks for comparison); use of solar photovoltaic heat pumps for heating; full electrification of the building heating system; full electrification of building heating, plus summer cooling.

Through total life cycle cost (TLCC) to evaluate the economic performance of the four scenarios, scholars found that in remote areas of the northern climate of the United States, regardless of whether photovoltaic systems are installed, heat pumps are economically competitive with propane. The most cost-effective solution is the second scenario, solar photovoltaic heat pump heating.

According to calculations by scholars, even if the initial investment cost is 50% higher than the average market price, the lower operating cost of the heat pump can compensate. They pointed out that heating and electrification solutions such as solar heat pumps can reduce heating costs by up to 20% and carbon emissions by 30%.

However, the researchers also pointed out that the conclusion strictly depends on the electricity price in the area. Lower electricity prices are good for heat pumps, but not good for photovoltaics; while higher electricity prices help support photovoltaics.