Installing ductless heat pumps has been a niche that has allowed a Libby heating and cooling business to survive the recession and get some statewide recognition to boot.

Formula Fabrication, owned by Frank and Karee Sweedman, recently was named Contractor of the Year in Montana for the third consecutive year by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. The Libby business has installed more ductless heating and cooling systems than any other contractor in Montana.

“When the recession hit, our business really suffered,” Frank Sweedman said. “Ductless heating systems allowed us to tap into a whole new market and grow our business.”

The ductless systems now account for 70 percent of Formula Fabrication’s installations.

Educating the community about the energy efficiency of ductless heating and cooling systems is a key reason why the Sweedmans keep earning awards for their work, an alliance spokesman said.

The Northwest Ductless Heat Pump Project, an initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, and collaboration with utilities such as Flathead Electric Cooperative allows homeowners to get rebates of up to $1,350, which greatly reduces the overall cost for a ductless system.

“It does make it pretty attractive,” Flathead Electric Energy Services Supervisor Ross Holter said.

Flathead Electric offers on-bill financing so homeowners can borrow the balance, minus the rebate, and have it appear as a line item on their utility bill.

“This makes it so a person can get a system with no money out of pocket if their credit is good,” Holter said.

Karee Sweedman said they have sold a number of ductless systems to those who don’t qualify for the rebate because of their energy efficiency and ability to greatly reduce homeowners’ costs of propane or fuel oil for heating.

Homes qualifying for the ductless system rebate have zonal heating and cooling systems such as baseboards, forced-air wall units, electric boilers or ceiling cable heat systems, Holter said.

Homes that don’t qualify are manufactured homes, new construction, multifamily homes and those with a ducted heating system regardless of fuel type.

Ductless heat pumps require only a three-inch opening in the wall or ceiling.

“Installation is as simple as mounting the indoor and outdoor units, connecting the refrigerant lines and making a few electrical connections,” Holter said.

Since 2008, the Northwest Ductless Heat Pump Project, based in Portland, has worked with utilities and businesses such as Formula Fabrication to install more than 14,000 ductless systems in the Northwest, at a savings of 49 million kilowatt hours annually. That’s enough electricity to power 4,400 average homes for an entire year.

“Formula Fabrication’s success is also a success for our local economy,” Holter said.

Currently, 92 utility partners in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington are offering customer rebates on the systems.

For more information, go to http://goingductless.com, or contact Holter at Flathead Electric Cooperative at 751-1875.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.