A demonstration project was conducted to explore the potential for energy conservation and demand reduction of converting electric resistance heating to earth-coupled heat pumps (ECHPs) at a 550-unit, garden apartment complex in upstate New York. The demonstration involved three apartments in each of three buildings. Earth-coupled heat pumps were installed in one building, the other two buildings retained electrical resistance baseboard heating and conventional air-conditioning systems. Energy consumption data for heating and cooling were collected at 15-min intervals for approximately one year, then analysed. The energy consumption and electric demand for heating an apartment with an ECHP were approximately one-third as much as for electric resistance heating. However, cooling data were too scattered to establish meaningful trends because tenants were inconsistent in using air conditioning, therefore no cooling comparisons could be made.

KEYWORDS: comparing, energy consumption, soil heat pumps, heat pumps, energy conservation, electric heaters, resistance, dwellings.