If you own a home or a business in New England, switching from a gas or oil furnace to a heat pump has always made sense. But this fall there are pressing reasons to make the switch: Canadian tariffs could push heating oil and gas to record highs this winter at the same time federal tax breaks will end.

The adoption of heat pumps, and the lower bills and cleaner air that comes with them, is a tale of two neighbors, New Hampshire and Maine. Roughly 60 percent of New Hampshire homes are heated with gas or oil – the second highest percentage in the country. The state with the highest percentage of homes using oil for heat? Maine. But that gap is rapidly shrinking as Maine becomes a national leader in switching to electric heat pumps.

Right now, about 2 percent of New Hampshire home or busin

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