Saving 30 to 40 percent on a home energy bill can be a challenge, but David Hutchins is helping some of his customers do just that. As owner and president of Bay Area Air Conditioning Inc. in New Port Richey and Crystal River, Fla., Hutchins is in what he describes as a heat pump market. Approximately 95 percent of his business is heat pumps, he noted, “with the exception of a few subdivisions that have natural gas.”

The number of homes that have new heat pump installations thanks to Hutchins’ company is still rising, but as he works to meet the challenges of the government and his customers, he has found that homeowners are more savvy and at times more willing to accept new technology, especially when it saves them money.