PORTLAND — Most Mainers heat with oil, and they’re afraid of electric heat.

They know standard electric heat is expensive.

They’ve heard about problems with a now-defunct heat pump made in Maine.

And they don’t understand how an air-type heat pump can be 300 percent efficient.

These perceptions will present challenges to Maine’s utilities and state energy officials, an expert said, as they design a pilot program to promote efficient electric heat as an alternative to fuel oil.

“People are naturally scared about something new, but they’re also increasingly scared about the price of heating oil,” said Pat Coon, managing partner at ReVision Heat in Portland, which installs alternative heating equipment.

Coon has installed 20 or so air-type heat pumps. His company designed the system at the Merriconeag Waldorf School in Freeport.

He typically has to explain that a heat pump operates like a refrigerator, transferring heat from one space to another. This “magic box” uses one unit of electricity to move three or so units of heat. Coon said a new heat pump can warm living space at the equivalent price of $1.50 a gallon for oil.

Some people remember Hallowell International, the Bangor company that developed a different air-type heat pump technology for cold climates. The design proved unreliable, giving the systems a bad name.

Coon reassures customers that large Japanese companies, such as Fujitsu and Mitsubishi, now have proven heat pumps that can capture heat in air as low as minus 17 degrees. They cost roughly $4,500 installed. People need to weigh that investment against the rising cost of heating with oil, he said.

“Simple payback, plus free air conditioning. That’s the calculus for most people,” he said.

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