{"id":11953,"date":"2024-08-06T19:28:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T19:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=11953"},"modified":"2024-08-06T19:57:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T19:57:31","slug":"government-heat-pump-subsidies-in-wisconsin-will-lead-to-higher-costs-for-homeowners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=11953","title":{"rendered":"Government heat pump subsidies in Wisconsin will lead to higher costs for homeowners"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.badgerinstitute.org\/government-heat-pump-subsidies-in-wisconsin-will-lead-to-higher-costs-for-homeowners\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Taking the rebate could cost you dearly<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Wisconsin\u00a0will be the first state<\/a>\u00a0to pass out federally funded rebates to homeowners for energy-related home alterations \u2014 including heat pumps that will increase homeowners\u2019 heating costs sharply.<\/p>\n

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\"Snow-covered<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Gov. Tony Evers\u2019 office last week announced $149 million in federal subsidies for homeowners and landlords who, for example, add insulation, rewire, or replace gas appliances. Among the largest rebates will be up to $8,000 to replace an existing furnace with an electric heat pump.<\/p>\n

While heat pumps can be cheaper than gas-powered furnaces, they add an average of more than $2,000 a year to a new Wisconsin home\u2019s heating bill, according to a recent Badger Institute study.<\/p>\n

Heat pumps, which are common in warmer states, transfer heat from outside air to a home\u2019s interior. They lose efficiency in freezing temperatures. They are the usual go-to in places where regulators have limited or banned combustion furnaces.\u00a0No such restrictions exist yet in Wisconsin, though Evers\u00a0last year vetoed<\/a>\u00a0a measure to rule out<\/a>\u00a0such bans, and his\u00a0energy plan in 2022 called for<\/a>\u00a0ending natural gas as a heating fuel.<\/p>\n

Such a transition could cost Wisconsinites dearly. Work by economists Andrew Hanson and Zackary Hawley for the Badger Institute this spring concluded that the high electricity costs of operating a heat pump in Wisconsin\u2019s frigid climate would come to just under $20,000 per new house in added costs borne by an average Wisconsin homeowner over the 15-year life of a heat pump. The figure would be lower in Milwaukee but could reach $29,900 in Superior.<\/p>\n

You can\u00a0find the study here<\/a>. The added cost, which is atop the existing cost of heating a home, would be higher if homeowners kept the interior temperature above 65 degrees or if the cost of electricity rose.<\/p>\n

Hanson and Hawley found that, in addition to increasing monthly costs, banning the use of natural gas furnaces would reduce home values by approximately $7,800 per new home.<\/p>\n

Other work the Badger Institute has produced on regulations around natural gas and homes include:<\/p>\n