Heat pumps, who got em, do you recommend

[bigwakes]

I have a heat pump and woke to 9 degrees with the power out. We have 3 sets of propane logs for a back up and glad we had them this morning.

[Trekbike]

I had a heat pump in my previous house and it never felt warm to either me or my wife even though the temp was at the set point. My current house has gas heat and water heater and I love it. I won't willingly go back to a heat pump or electric water heater.

[leroy]

Wanted to pass this on this mornin.... It wuz zero at our house last nite...

 

We have a 3 year old 5 ton package unit heating and cooling a 3200 sq ft or so split foyer built about 40 or so years ago... The unit DOES NOT have any auxiliary heating on it... For the first time in 3 years, the house was cold last nite... Set point on thermostat wuz 71 degrees and the temp in the house wuz 59 degrees at about 8 this mornin at zero degrees...

 

The house is warmin up now (...its probably 15 degrees or so now....) and the sun is shinin....

 

The moral of this little story:  Ya need auxiliary heat of some sort with your package unit...

 

What happens is the the heat pump will get over-run when it goes to the defrost cycle and the temp will slide backwards in the heated space when its very cold outside... As near as i can tell, a heat pump looses capacity to about 1/2 of it's "normal" rating at zero degrees F.... I have been pleasantly surprized with the performance of the unit until last nite; but ya got to remember that it's been 20 or so years since we've had a zero nite and ten degree days where i live... I'm gonna put in a 15 KW heater kit on wednesday or thursday when it warms up....

 

Hope this helps...

leroy

[tnguy]

Heck, even the gas unit was struggling this morning. I normally set back to 40 and have it go to 70 at 5am to be warm in time for getting up. Last night I set it to 55 to go to 70 at the regular time and it was only 63 when it was time to get up. That was with nearly 2 hours of continuous heat.

 

I did remember to plug my car in though :D

Edited January 7, 2014 by tnguy

[peejman]

I hear stories of one of the local gas utilities running out of gas.  Apparently they throttle the supply and the lines got sucked dry this morning. 

 

My wife says our heat is still working fine, so I'm thankful for that.  She also says the kids being cooped up in the house for 2 days are driving her batty.  :) 

[Tempest455]

I have two and hate them but it's what house came with when it was built.

 

Best heat I ever had was hot water. Always felt warm and when boiler was up to temp, the pump just circulated the water. 

[Just2Honor]

+1 to the Trane (or American Standard, same company) Dual Fuel HVAC system.  Electric AC and Heat Pump with a control that lets me set at what outside temp I want to switch to propane.   At around 28 degrees a hest pump is zero efficiency so the emergeny strips come on (a BIG toaster) to try to keep you in heat.   Cost more up front than a standard electric HVAC but I think it was well worth it.        Seven years old and never a problem.     

[serbu50]

You will become very annoyed with the wood burning heat exchangers. Getting up at 3 am sucks. Plus hauling, stacking, cutting the wood gets old. Heat pumps here at the house did ok last 2 nights.

[1pointofview]

Thanks guys! Lots of good info. My gas heat was blowin all night last night and when i went down stairs, the thermostat was reading 56 and was set at 63. Got so cold the gas could not keep up.

[wileecoyote]

I've got a Trane heat pump with auxiliary electric heat. It's 22 years old and still works great! Never had any major repairs and only two minor repairs that were under $200 each. Supplies great cold air in summer, nice heat in winter, bills are very affordable.

[Trekbike]

[quote name="1pointofview" post="1091293" timestamp="1389146426"]My gas heat was blowin all night last night and when i went down stairs, the thermostat was reading 56 and was set at 63. Got so cold the gas could not keep up.[/quote] Something doesn't sound right about your gas furnace not being able to keep up at 63. Mine cycles set on 68-69 even as cold as it has been.

[1pointofview]

We lost power last night for 3 hours. When power came back on at 2am the house had cooled down to the 50s. After 1 hour of non stop blowin, it was not blowin warm air. So i started a fire at 3am and within the next hour, the house was 64degrees

[Hershmeister]

So is a dual fuel unit worth the extra cost?

[Currently]

Yes!

Plus a backup source of heat that does not rely on electricity.

The electrical grid is facing severe issues in the future.

[peejman]

Yes!

Plus a backup source of heat that does not rely on electricity.

The electrical grid is facing severe issues in the future.

 

 

I'll disagree with the dual fuel part.  Unless the price of natural gas jumps a lot in the near term, I don't see the value.  I replacement my HVAC unit this past summer and looked at a dual fuel unit.  Best I recall, some quick math showed the payback to be in the 10 yr range.  That's too long to justify the extra expense IMO. 

 

Dad has a Carrier dual fuel unit and it's been problematic.  It's not had any major failures but has had a number of small things go wrong that made it either not run correctly or at all until fixed.  He got a 10 yr parts/labor warranty and has made good use of it.  The newest versions are likely better, but I tend to subscribe to the KISS philosophy, and a dual fuel unit has lots of extra stuff to break. 

 

 

 

 

We lost power last night for 3 hours. When power came back on at 2am the house had cooled down to the 50s. After 1 hour of non stop blowin, it was not blowin warm air. So i started a fire at 3am and within the next hour, the house was 64degrees

 

 

Either your unit is too small for the house, the house is poorly insulated, something's wrong with the unit, or some combination thereof.  If you've got has heat, it should've been nice and toasty again within an hour.  I'd check the duct work for leaks.

Edited January 8, 2014 by peejman

[Guest dieselshadow]

For those not in the know, a heat pump is an a/c unit that runs in reverse when in the heating mode. They're not much more expensive than a standard a/c unit. A reversing valve and some controls. That's basically it. So getting a dual fuel/hybrid unit shouldn't cost you a ton of money. The reliability comes down to mainly the installer. If they do a crappy job, well your HVAC will be crappy. A good install with decent equipment will be very reliable and last a long time in addition to being efficient.

[Ray Z]

The most efficient heat pump is the ground source heat pump. But to put it in an existing home is cost prohibitive. Because the piping is put well below the frost line outdoor temperature isn't a factor. But you do still have to have auxiliary heat for emergencies   

[1pointofview]

My unit is an 11 year old builder grade system. Have had moderately good performance overall. But i am going to check all the ducts for sure. Thanks

[seez52]

We've got a dual fuel NG American Standard 19 seer I think. There are actually two separate compressors in the unit for efficiency. Its zoned for upstairs/down stairs and has been great. Heat pump cuts out at 34 degrees or there about. If I could do horizontal ground loops I think geo would be the way to go. Could only do vertical wells here and that was too expensive.

[Hershmeister]

I looked at geo but its soooo expensive even with the tax credit - the payback period was no different than just planning on buying new hvac in the future - and not worrying about replacing all the expensive pumps and stuff. Anyone with geo and a story to tell?

[tnguy]

The one that advertises on WWTN claims a financing program that means you'll see savings immediately. If you don't mind carrying some debt, that would seem to be a deal.