In this podcast, John Maher interviews Jared Grier, owner of Cape Cod Heat Pumps, about the benefits of Fujitsu heat pumps. They discuss Fujitsu’s efficiency, suitability for various home types, and how these heat pumps contribute to a more sustainable home. Jared explains the installation process, maintenance needs, and the environmental advantages of switching from fossil fuels to heat pumps, especially in Cape Cod’s diverse housing landscape.
John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher. I’m here today with Jared Grier, owner of Cape Cod Heat Pumps, an HVAC contractor in Marstons Mills, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, specializing in ductless heating and cooling technology and focused on detail, quality, and professionalism. Today our topic is Fujitsu heat pumps. Welcome, Jared.
Jared Grier: Great to be here, John.
Benefits of Fujitsu Heat Pumps
John: So, Jared, what are some of the benefits of Fujitsu heat pumps as compared to other brands that are on the market?
Jared: So, Fujitsu has been in the mini-split market for quite a while now. They’ve got a very diverse and robust line which is great for contractors like myself to be able to serve our customers. As you can think, being here on Cape, we’ve got some pretty unique challenges both in the age and designs of home. We’ve homes that date all the way back to the 1600s to homes that were just built this year. We’ve got large mansions down to your small little ranches as well.
The diversity of their product line, of the types of units that are available, the size of units that are available make it easy to come up with solutions for virtually any home that we might have here on Cape. Fujitsu also… And I don’t mean this in a negative fashion but it’s an economy brand. You’re getting a really robust and great product but maybe a little bit less than a product like Mitsubishi or LG. Some customers that might be on a little bit tighter of a budget and still want to do this work, this could be a great opportunity for them.
And we might be just pinching pennies here but a lot of the manufacturers like LG, Mitsubishi, their low temp operation is just down to negative 13. And I know I say just down because it’s quite a bit cold and we don’t experience that here. Fujitsu’s will actually run down to negative 15. And I think they’re looking to get products that’ll run to even cooler climates as well for markets like Maine or maybe Canada, something like that. You pair that up with a really good warranty that they have as well, they’ve got a 12-year parts warranty. This can be a really great solution for our customers.
How Fujitsu Heat Pumps Achieve High Energy Efficiency
John: Okay. Can you explain a little bit about how Fujitsu heat pumps achieve high energy efficiency and what impact that has on a customer’s electric bills? Energy bills in general.
Jared: Your traditional heating and cooling system… They’re going to know when I describe this, they’re all on all off system. So your typical air conditioning system, you’re going to hear that outdoor unit clunk on. And as soon as you hear that you’re going to see your lights dim down real quick. And that unit’s going to throw you the full capacity that it has to give you. Now if it’s a milder day, say 80 degrees, not all that humid, well, you don’t need a lot of cooling for your house, right? So these systems they short cycle. They’re going to turn on for five minutes, shut off, and then they’re going to clunk back on and then shut off. It’s just not a very efficient way to operate a system. I mean, think about your car. What’s going to be more efficient driving your car? When are you going to get better gas mileage when you’re driving on the highway or you’re in stop-and-go traffic? Well, we all know it’s going to be the highway.
That inverter compressor, that inverter technology that Fujitsu and other manufacturers use allows our system to have longer run times. Now, it might be a little counterintuitive but those longer run times actually mean we’re going to use much less energy to do the same amount of work. Because again, we’re not running it to that full capacity just to shut off and go idle, we’re going to run at that minimum maintain … Or minimum possible to maintain temperature. Now, what this does for homeowners is … If we’re cooling the house that’s going to mean we’re going to do a really great job dehumidifying, removing moisture from that house, right? Because those longer run times means more moisture extraction out of the air. While here on Cape … We’re not Phoenix, Arizona, we don’t get that super-hot temperature, but we’ll be 85 degrees at 90% relative humidity.
John: Right.
Jared: The ability to really wring out more of that moisture is going to make for a much more comfortable temperature. On the flip side of things, and this is also true for cooling… On the heating side of things when we got longer run times, that’s going to be in a much more stable temperature through the house, right? Where again, to those conventional air conditioning and heating systems, they throw a lot of heat, they throw a lot of cooling at you so you get this sine wave effect of it’s going to get hot, and then it’s got to cool off, then it’s going to get hot, and then it’s got to cool off. It could be three, four, five degrees in between their on and off set point. That can really be uncomfortable if you’re living in that home if you’ve got a several degree swing as these systems turn on and off. That inverter compressor, that inverter technology allows us to use a lot less energy, do a better job dehumidifying in the summertime and keep a much more stable temperature throughout the house.
Different Types of Fujitsu Heat Pumps
John: So, what are some of the different types of Fujitsu heat pumps that are available? How do you know which one or what type of system is best suited for various home sizes and climates?
Jared: One of the first questions that we’re going to ask a customer when we meet with them is… If they’re looking at ductless or mini-split technology, we’re going to ask them, “Are we looking to heat or are we looking to cool the home,” right? And if we’re looking to cool the home we’re going to focus on what we can do to put that equipment in the house to cool it. If we’re looking to heat the house, well, now that’s going to be our primary focus and cooling is just going to be the added benefit to that. If it’s going to be cooling-only focus we’re not going to go with their low temperature heat pump we’re just going to go with their standard temperature heat pump. So they’re still going to have the ability to heat but just not maybe at those low, low temperatures we just talked about.
If this is going to be a heating-centric system, obviously, we’re going to size that to the home. You talked about sizing and all that. We perform what’s called a Manual J on every estimate that we go on. Not every job we install but every estimate we go on. What that is, that’s a heat gain, heat loss calculation. You can take your standard ranch, and take one house it sits south, take the other house face it west. They’re going to have very different needs based on just their orientation to the sun.
They could also have very different needs based on when it was built, right? If you take a house that was just built last year versus something that was built in the 70s, well the quality of insulation, the infiltration in the home is going to be much different between those. Each home is unique and we’ve got to size it appropriately with the diverse line of the outdoor units as well as the different style indoor units. We can generally go with one outdoor unit, possibly do two outdoor units, and really give you as much coverage throughout the house as you’re going to need.
Fujitsu Heat Pump Installation Process
John: And talk about the installation process for Fujitsu heat pumps as compared to working on a traditional heating or cooling system.
Jared: 15 years ago, if you were to give me a call and … Say you had baseboard heat and you wanted to get some sort of cooling in your house, well, it was going to be a very invasive project, right? If it were your standard colonial I was going to put that equipment in the attic. Second floor was going to be generally easy to work in because we were just going to work from the attic to the second floor. But we also got to get stuff to the first floor, right? So typically we’re going to have to run large ducts through any closet you might have. Say that closet landed right over your kitchen island, well, that’s where that ducts got to go, right? As well as you’re losing space in your closet which people generally want to keep for storage.
What’s really nice about these products is the diversity of them. The ductless aspect of them, that we don’t necessarily have to run ductwork all throughout the house to be able to give you some heating or cooling. Again, the project just can be much more conducive to … Less effects on the house and taking up space for the homeowners. Or even just generally having to make holes in their house and to run things.
What Maintenance is Need for a Fujitsu Heat Pump?
John: What can homeowners expect in terms of maintenance and upkeep on Fujitsu heat pumps?
Jared: Maintenance is critical on these systems. We recommend at minimum once a year to have us out. And again, that’s something that you’re going to want to have us come do. We’re certainly going to coach, and we do coach, all of our customers to check their filters, clean their filters occasionally. But you’re going to want to have us out once year. You can see the unit behind me here. So what we’ll actually do on that maintenance, we’re going to take that whole white case assembly off, right? It’s going to be fully exposed to the elements. And that’s going to allow us to put a bib underneath it. And then we have a power sprayer to really get in there and clean that dirt and grime out.
And then the outdoor units, it’s really critical that we check and inspect those. Quite frankly, our number one issue with these… This equipment is mice. Mice calling those outdoor units home. So as a part of our inspection is we’re going to actually go to that outdoor unit, and we’re not only going to clean it but we’re going to open up the panel that’s got all the electronics, and parts, and pieces in it. Obviously, check for any signs of mice. What we also do is we have some really concentrated mint oil that we’ll then spray into that area to hopefully just not make an environment for those… For the mice to want to be in.
Are Fujitsu Heat Pumps Environmentally Friendly?
John: And then finally, how do Fujitsu heat pumps contribute more to a sustainable and environmentally friendly home which I know a lot of people these days are really focused on?
Jared: A lot of people in both the state and federal government are very focused on this, right? You’ve got the Mass Save program, which many customers are familiar with, that’s really driving people to do away with fossil fuels for heating their home. You’ve got the federal government with the Infrastructure Act that’s also going to be piggybacking on this. And actually, the state of Massachusetts has applied to the federal government, they’re waiting on approval for their funding. And once we do we’re going to have an additional funding from the federal government to push people towards electrification. Heat pumps are going to be the only way that we can heat your home without burning a fossil fuel. And we’re going to do that a lot more economically than your resistive electric heat. This is great technology for those customers that do want to get off fossil fuels. It’s also great technology for those customers that maybe are on fossil fuels but are looking to save on their heating bills and get a great cooling system as well.
John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Jared. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Jared: Thanks, John.
Information About Cape Cod Heat Pumps
John: And for more information you can visit the Cape Cod Heat Pumps website at ccheatpumps.com. Or call 508-833-HVAC. That’s 508-833-4822.