Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 30, 1994                   TAG: 9409300021
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By CLAUDINE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SOME LIKE IT HOT AND COOL, SO ROANOKE GAS HAS BOTH

The pump, called the Triathalon, is one of the first to both heat and cool using natural gas, said Robert Glenn, the utility's vice president for marketing and strategic planning.

"We are a winter peaking company," said Glenn. "Most of our customers use the majority of our products in the winter for heating their homes. We would like to balance our gas loads into the summer."

Roanoke Gas distributes 10 times as much natural gas in the winter as in the summer.

The new heat pump, made by York International Corp. of York, Pa., transfers heat much the way traditional electric-powered heat pumps do. On a cold day, the device extracts heat from outside air and transfers it indoors. On a hot day, it moves heat from indoors to outdoors.

An air conditioner is a type of heat pump, but it transfers heat in only one direction. The Triathalon pump, targeted at homes and small commercial buildings, can operate in either direction to provide space-conditioning year-round.

Two of the first heat pumps in Virginia were designated for Roanoke Gas. So far, only five have been installed in the state.

The pump costs $4,500, or about $2,000 more than electric-powered units, but Glenn says the gas-fueled pump is 42 percent more energy efficient.

Based on Roanoke-area utility rates, the average customer would spend $495 a year less to heat and cool with the Triathalon pump compared with an electric heat pump, Glenn said.

Also, he said, the new heat pump in winter generates air that is 15 degrees warmer than electric pumps produce.

Gas company officials say the heat pump will lower the demand for electricity. But electric companies apparently are not worried by the competition.

"There have been a lot of ways of heating homes, and it is not unreasonable to believe that a new system for cooling will be introduced," said Don Johnson, public affairs manager for Appalachian Power Co. of Roanoke.

"The heat pump has been around a long time and people like them and will continue to use them. I don't know if gas units will have a significant impact on the company, but time will tell," he said.

It took about 10 years to develop the Triathalon, Glenn said. "It would take about another decade for thousands of the units to sell in Roanoke," he said.

Although the three-ton unit looks similar to electric models, the gas pump does not switch on and off to cool. Instead, the system varies its speed to reduce indoor humidity.

During the winter, the pump uses heat from its own running engine to warm the air, which with an electric heat pump feels cool.

The natural gas industry spent about $15 million to develop the Triathalon. Roanoke Gas contributed about $12,000.

The company hopes to gain an even larger share of the residential fuels market by encouraging customers to replace electric water heaters with gas models.

Avis & Sons Electrical Contractors of Roanoke is distributing the new gas-powered heat pump.