Become Self-Sustaining in the Adirondacks with Heat Pumps and Solar
Quick answer: a Mitsubishi heat pump system plus a rooftop or ground-mount solar array is the most practical way for a North Country home to become energy self-sustaining. The heat pump turns your heating, cooling and (with a hybrid water heater) hot water into electric loads at roughly three units of heat per unit of power; the solar array produces that power on site. Families who have done both in New York have cut their combined fuel and electric bills to nearly nothing and bank credits from the grid in summer. The order matters: install the heat pump first, then size the solar to the new, smaller load.
The idea: electrify, then generate
Most Adirondack homes run on two or three energy sources: electricity from NYSEG or National Grid, plus oil or propane delivered by truck, plus maybe a cord of wood. You cannot make oil on your roof. You can make electricity. So the path to self-sufficiency is:
Tighten the envelope
Air sealing and attic insulation first. Every BTU you do not lose is one you do not have to make or buy.
Convert heating and cooling to a heat pump
A Mitsubishi Hyper-Heat system replaces the oil or propane burner and gives you air conditioning. Your heating bill becomes an electric load that is a third the size of resistance heat.
Convert hot water
A hybrid heat-pump water heater cuts water-heating electricity by more than half compared to a standard electric tank.
Add solar sized to the new load
Now the array only has to cover an efficient all-electric house, not a resistance-heated one, which keeps the solar project smaller and cheaper.
Heat pumps: the efficiency multiplier
A heat pump does not make heat; it moves it. The outdoor unit pulls heat out of the winter air and sends it inside through refrigerant; in summer the cycle reverses and it cools the house. Because it moves heat rather than generating it, a Mitsubishi Hyper-Heat system delivers around 300% efficiency across a season, three units of heat for each unit of electricity. Electric baseboard delivers one. That is the single biggest reason solar-plus-heat-pump works in a cold climate: the array has to produce a third of the energy that an electric-resistance house would need.
Mitsubishi's Hyper-Heating INVERTER equipment holds 100% of rated capacity at 5°F and runs to -13°F, or -22°F on H2i Plus models, so the heat pump carries the house in January rather than handing off to a fuel burner. Learn more about Hyper-Heat and our heat pump services.
Solar: generating the power on site
Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight to electricity. New York's net-metering and successor programs let a grid-tied system push excess summer production to the utility for credit and draw it back in winter. The Adirondacks get less sun than Arizona, but a south-facing roof in Ticonderoga, Crown Point or Westport produces well, and panels actually run more efficiently in cold, clear air.
Solar is a renewable, clean source with no fuel cost, and once the panels are paid off the electricity is essentially free for the life of the system. We do not install solar ourselves; we design the heat pump side so that your solar installer has an accurate annual kWh number to size against. Doing the heat pump first avoids buying more panels than you need.
What a self-sustaining Adirondack home looks like
One New York family we worked with replaced their fossil-fuel heating with Mitsubishi heat pumps and added a solar array. The result was a home that produces about as much energy as it uses over a year, with summer surplus credited back by the utility and no more fuel deliveries. Their experience is the pattern we now see repeatedly: the heat pump removes the biggest bill, the solar covers the rest, and the house becomes quieter, cleaner and cheaper to own.
A typical North Country example: a 1,900-square-foot farmhouse outside Elizabethtown, previously on propane plus electric baseboard in two additions. A four-zone Mitsubishi system (three wall units and one ceiling-concealed unit for the bedrooms) replaced both, a hybrid water heater replaced the electric tank, and an array sized to the new load went on the barn roof. Winter heat, summer cooling and hot water now all run on the panels and the grid credit.
Self-sustaining in the broader sense
Energy is one leg of self-sufficiency. Homesteaders in the Adirondacks grow food, cut wood, and manage their own water and waste. Where heat pumps fit that life is resilience: a Mitsubishi system has no fuel to run out of, no tank to fill, nothing to burn, and it keeps working through the cold stretches that used to mean a worried call to the oil company. Paired with a battery, a solar-plus-heat-pump home can ride through short outages. It is also a lighter footprint on the Park: no combustion, no delivery truck on a dirt road in March.
Rebates and incentives in 2026
The heat pump side qualifies for NYS Clean Heat incentives through NYSEG or National Grid, and Efficiency Vermont incentives in Addison County. Heat-pump water heaters have their own utility rebates. New York also offers its own state solar programs through NYSERDA. We confirm the heat pump amounts at the free estimate and file the paperwork; your solar installer handles the solar side. One caution: the federal home-energy tax credit expired December 31, 2025, so plan around state and utility money, not federal. See our rebates page and 0% financing options.
Frequently asked questions
Should I install solar or heat pumps first?
Heat pumps first. Converting heating, cooling and hot water to efficient electric loads changes your annual electricity use, and your solar installer needs that final number to size the array. Doing it in the other order usually means buying more panels than you need.
Can solar panels run a heat pump in an Adirondack winter?
A grid-tied array banks summer surplus as utility credit and draws it back in winter, so over a year the panels can cover the heat pump's electricity. Off-grid operation in January requires a large battery and is a different design.
How much electricity does a Mitsubishi heat pump use?
Roughly a third of what electric resistance heat would use for the same warmth, because it moves heat at about 300% seasonal efficiency instead of generating it. Our savings calculator estimates your home's annual kWh.
Are there rebates for combining heat pumps and solar in New York?
The heat pump qualifies for NYS Clean Heat incentives through NYSEG or National Grid, and solar has separate NYSERDA programs. Each is applied for on its own; we handle the heat pump paperwork.
Talk to us
Have questions about your home? Call Adirondack Heat Pumps at (518) 812-1958, stop by the showroom at 15 Montcalm Street in Ticonderoga, or request a free in-home estimate. We serve Essex County, the Lake George and Lake Champlain shores, the High Peaks and Addison County, Vermont.