OK, what the heck is a heat pump???

[Big Al]

I've been hearing references to heat pumps a lot here lately and the posters all seem to be from the southern portion of the country. They must be a regional thing. Not looking for a 3 page document here, but what exactly is a heat pump?? :-S

Thanks

Al

 

[Jags]

It is a type of heater/air conditioner that takes advantage of the difference in ground temp/air temp. It usually has some sort of ground loop to extract heat (ground warmer than air) or extract cold (ground cooler than air).

It is not a common object in colder environments because of its realistic heating capacity (not enough), but down south, works pretty good. They are operated off of electricity with a backup heating coil for extra kick if needed.

Now that is about as simple as it gets.

 

[blujacket]

Reverse refrigeration. Most heat pumps are air to air. Jags response relates to geothermal heat pumps.

 

[Jags]

Reverse refrigeration. Most heat pumps are air to air. Jags response relates to geothermal heat pumps.

You are correct sir. I wasn't even thinking of the air/air exchangers.

 

[Big Al]

Ok, so I understand Jags, had kind of heard about that before. But reverse air conditioning? It takes the surface heat from the condensor rather than the cooler air from the evaporator's surface?? I'm think automotive a/c here so bear with me. Thanks.

Al

 

[blujacket]

Ok, so I understand Jags, had kind of heard about that before. But reverse air conditioning? It takes the surface heat from the condensor rather than the cooler air from the evaporator's surface?? I'm think automotive a/c here so bear with me. Thanks.

Al

This is a good visual

http://www.dhclimatecontrol.com/hp.htm

 

[Big Al]

Ok, so I understand Jags, had kind of heard about that before. But reverse air conditioning? It takes the surface heat from the condensor rather than the cooler air from the evaporator's surface?? I'm think automotive a/c here so bear with me. Thanks.

Al

This is a good visual

http://www.dhclimatecontrol.com/hp.htm

Awesome, Thanks! The consensor and evaporator play dual roles, depending on direction of flow of the refrigerant. Also explains why it's more common down south as most would want/need A/C in the first place. Ingenious.

Ok I learned something today, can turn the brain off now....... ;-)

 

[OhioBurner©]

Our last house had a heat pump, very efficient. Biggest complaint was in cooler temperatures you dont get really warm air blowing out the vents like a furnace, its only a little warmer than room temperature, so when its 'blowing' it actually feels like cold air. Sometimes we would wonder if it was working right, thinking we had the a/c on but it kept the place at 68 or whatever we had it at. Totally different from a wood stove!

 

[jlove1974]

heat pumps are nearly warm air heaters. The only time you think they are actually heating the house is when you step in from the cold.
You cannot own leather furniture and enjoy heat pump heat lol. but they are a pretty competant backup to wood.
Supposedly they work above zero degrees F because the temp difference they work on is measure from 0 degrees K (Kelvin).
But you wouldn't catch me installing one in a home where the average wintertime lows are below freezing.
Which answers your question to why are posters from the Southern climes the only ones mentioning heat pump.

Also, most heat pumps have emergency backup electric heating coils. Get ready to bend over to the power company when the little blue/red/orange EMERGENCY light comes on.

 

[Big Al]

Also, most heat pumps have emergency backup electric heating coils. Get ready to bend over to the power company when the little blue/red/orange EMERGENCY light comes on.

No doubt. One big ass controlled short draining your wallet. Ah pity the fool who's house and appliances (cooking stove, water heat, clothes dryer and house heat) are electric. We've got NG here and our Dec/Jan bill to run all those appliances and keep the house at 62 for 10 hours a day was $113. Love my efficient appliances and my wood stove.

 

[jlove1974]

Also, most heat pumps have emergency backup electric heating coils. Get ready to bend over to the power company when the little blue/red/orange EMERGENCY light comes on.

No doubt. One big ass controlled short draining your wallet. Ah pity the fool who's house and appliances (cooking stove, water heat, clothes dryer and house heat) are electric. We've got NG here and our Dec/Jan bill to run all those appliances and keep the house at 62 for 10 hours a day was $113. Love my efficient appliances and my wood stove.

Usually, with our typically mild winters only the coldest nights would get the woodstove fired up. Now we have been at a nearly constant burn since mid-November.
My house is all electric, and at .087/Kwh my highest bills in winter would maybe top $200. Now last month, with the wood heat cranking, it was $200 anyway.

I have neighbors whoses bills topped $500 last month with similar sized homes. WOW. My mom has NG and has an average bill of around $250/month Dec/Jan/Feb. Plus her electric bill (washing machine, microwave, lighting, well pump, etc) is normally $50-100. There has been years that her gas bill exceed $400. No thanks.

 

[DanCorcoran]

We have two heat pumps (zoned upstairs and downstairs). They are used summer and both "shoulder" seasons. When the temp is below 32 degrees, they are very inefficient. We have never used the heating coils (they are labelled "emergency" for good reason). Our winter heat is a natural gas boiler with hot water radiators (installed in the house when built in 1921, but it was a coal-fired boiler then). We also have vent-free gas logs in the living room (great for when electricity is off) and a coal fireplace in the master bedroom, which we've never used. All of this was in the house when we bought it.

Heat pumps are very common in the south, because most folks want/need air conditioning and if the outside temps don't get below freezing, you can get along with just one system.

The woodstove is at the cabin...

 

[Hardrockmaple]

I installed a Ductless Mini-split last August, they are a wonderful unit when used for the proper application. With the technology available today I got useful heat, efficiently when compared to the existing electric baseboard heaters, down as low as 40-45*F. My home is completely open on the main level (950 sq.ft.) with no existing duct work, in the summer I used to run two portable AC units and in the fall I was either too hot with the stove burning or too cold with only the baseboard heaters. No longer and my power bill has been cut in half (so far). I've been running the system periodically to freshen the air through the filter system, works well.

As I said, in the right application they are a heck of a deal.

http://www.mitsubishicomfort.com/en/consumer/how-it-works

 

[Big Al]

Also, most heat pumps have emergency backup electric heating coils. Get ready to bend over to the power company when the little blue/red/orange EMERGENCY light comes on.

No doubt. One big ass controlled short draining your wallet. Ah pity the fool who's house and appliances (cooking stove, water heat, clothes dryer and house heat) are electric. We've got NG here and our Dec/Jan bill to run all those appliances and keep the house at 62 for 10 hours a day was $113. Love my efficient appliances and my wood stove.

Usually, with our typically mild winters only the coldest nights would get the woodstove fired up. Now we have been at a nearly constant burn since mid-November.
My house is all electric, and at .087/Kwh my highest bills in winter would maybe top $200. Now last month, with the wood heat cranking, it was $200 anyway.

I have neighbors whoses bills topped $500 last month with similar sized homes. WOW. My mom has NG and has an average bill of around $250/month Dec/Jan/Feb. Plus her electric bill (washing machine, microwave, lighting, well pump, etc) is normally $50-100. There has been years that her gas bill exceed $400. No thanks.

$200 for heat and all appliances doesn't sound bad. I've got friends who pay $130 in electric without the heat.

$250 a month for gas heat seams steep for your mild climate. She must keep it really warm or have a drafty house, no? $250 was a cold weather month's gas bill up here before the wood stove, with a max house temp at 68. Electric for us is $50-$60 per month


Perhaps the energy rates are very different region to region as well. My wife is from NYC and she says the electric company rapes you there. She quoted me some insane bills.

 

[jlove1974]

ya mom's house is pretty old, remodeled before we moved there in 87 so everything is dated right around that time. Ya drafty probably compared to modern homes.
She has a gas-fired wall heater with a sep. gaspack central unit and electric AC unit. Hot water heater is old too. Not too long ago gas was pretty steep down here, but it's dropped dramatically as of late.

Our electric company (Duke) has some of the lowest rates around. There are 3 nuke plants on the Catawba all within 50 miles of us, and in the next county over there are two regional co-ops so competition.
Although one of them is supposed to merge w/ Duke and I expect it will drive the rates up. They will be the biggest total energy company in the US at that point.

$200 and burning wood is outrageous to me. Last year it was $120 a month. I get angry when / if the heatpumps cut on at all LOL

 

[Big Al]

Must be really cold to still be $200 with the wood stove raging. Guess you folks down there are taking a beating this year. We're just getting a snow storm a week, which is a pain. Except for the last couple days, temps haven't been THAT far below the norm.

 

[jackofalltrades]

I put a heat pump in my new house because of the saving, but I hope it never has to run any amount of time. I keep it set on 62 and when we were snowed in for a week and lows in the teens it did run some early in the mornings a little bit before I got up and got the fire going again. It is true if it is much below freezing they do not work all that well. The do not feel warm blowing on you either. It is not a good form of heat but the wood is my real heat source. I did really enjoy the highest power bill this summer at $75.00 with over two weeks at 100 degrees. They do have their place for sure.

 

[jlove1974]

my two heat pumps (up and down stairs) are 5.5 tons together for 2100 sq ft.
Seer rating of 10. I wish I had taken advantage of either replacement or getting a new stove,
but financially neither was feasible even w/ the tax credit deal. So I am just buying time
til the worse rated new unit is at least 3-5 times more efficient than what I have. That time
is already now. The power company has sent me a few deals where they will cheaply finance the replacement
of both units if I will stay with electric until they are paid for. I am chewing on that for the summer.

My peak summertime power bills are around $180 with the ac running all the time in June/July/August.
HOT summer followed by 2nd coldest winter on record around here and the utility companies love it.

 

[maverick06]

I have one in Pennsylvania. Its great, amazingly cheaper than oil! (wood is cheaper). HIGHLY recommend it.

Some power companies also give you a credit for it. My power company chops the cost of power in almost half when I go over 600 kwh. Its very nice.

We were replacing the AC unit and this was just $600 more. That paid for its self in about 2 years (we burn a lot, if you didnt have a wood stove, the added cost of the heat pump would pay for its self in about 2 months.

 

[billb3]

they're making heat pump hot water heaters now.
supposed to be more efficient than heater elements.

taking the heat out of a room in the Summer is probably a bit better than in the Winter.