Window mounted/through wall heat pumps

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JRP3

Feeling the Heat
Hearth Supporter
Sep 17, 2007
321
NYS
I was looking for a window mounted or through wall heat pump unit for easy installation and no piping to deal with and wondered if anyone had any experience with them? This would be mostly a supplemental heating unit when it gets too cold for my Mr. Cool 24kBTU unit to keep up and I don't feel like starting/keeping a fire. It seems as if most, maybe all, just use resistance heating instead of a reversible heat pump unit, example:

Are there any actual window heat pump units?
 
Is this a heat pump or does it have a resistance strip heater in it for supplemental winter heating?
 
That one, and most , (maybe all of them), have resistance heaters in them. I'm trying to find out if there are any actual heat pump units out there. Seems as if there should be.
 
how often do you think you will use this unit? The oil filled space heaters do an ok job of heating one room at a time. If it’s not being used that much it’s probably cheaper and better looking than a window unit that will leak more air than the closed window.
 
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Good points. I already have a 240V 20 amp resistance heating unit with a fan that I'm not using in my garage, I should probably just wire a circuit for that and see how that does. Or change it to a dryer plug since I wouldn't be using them at the same time, I vent the dryer into the house in cold weather anyway.
 
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That one, and most , (maybe all of them), have resistance heaters in them. I'm trying to find out if there are any actual heat pump units out there. Seems as if there should be.
Not sure if there's any window ones yet...certainly there are the hotel-style through wall ones that have heat pumps.

But, most of those switch to the resistance heat in any reasonably low temps where you're looking for backup...like one manual I pulled up for those uses the heat pump for heat until <40F, and then it's on to resistance.

I use a 3000W electric resistance heater (with built in fans) in my garage for winter heat...does the job.
I also use the same unit in my cabin for electric heat when I don't want to start a fire and/or want help heating things up. I just have these wired to wall thermostats for better control vs the on-board bimetal type.

(broken link removed)
 
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I found at least one window unit that had an inverter heat pump, but it switches to a resistance heater when the outside temp is below 40ºF.
 
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I have two portable black and decker wall vented heat pumps. They can do ac, heat, or dehumidify. I would recommend running the condensate drain outside as well. The internal tank can fill up very quickly on mild, cool, rainy days running in heat mode. Ac can also fill the tank quickly, but not as bad as heat does in the shoulder season. I like it for back up heat when my stoves burn out. Since they essentially move the cold air outside in heat mode, they really extend the useful heat when the stoves are down to coals. I used to reload over night, now I don't worry about it and let the hest pump take over. We only use one for winter and use a second unit upstairs in the summer.
 
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That looks like a good solution. How much heat does it put out and how low of a temp will it still output decent heat?
Is this the unit?
Amazon product ASIN B01DLPUWJ4
 
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Which units?
Edit: Begreen posted the correct link.

Without looking at the manual it's just listed as 14k btu + heat (11k btu). We have two identical units.

It's DOE rated for 8k btu.

I will say it does not keep up by itself below freezing and does not have resistive heat. I'm not sure even running both units would help much in below freezing temps without the stove(s). We use the second unit in our bedroom vented through a sliding door, for now. The unit downstairs has a wall vent with back draft damper, and the bedroom unit will as well once I get around to installing it.

Having it in the same room as our stoves really seems to boost efficiency for everything.

It's loud like a window unit and takes up floor space, those are the only cons I can find when compared to a mini split.
 
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Edit: Begreen posted the correct link.

Without looking at the manual it's just listed as 14k btu + heat (11k btu). We have two identical units.

It's DOE rated for 8k btu.

I will say it does not keep up by itself below freezing and does not have resistive heat. I'm not sure even running both units would help much in below freezing temps without the stove(s). We use the second unit in our bedroom vented through a sliding door, for now. The unit downstairs has a wall vent with back draft damper, and the bedroom unit will as well once I get around to installing it.

Having it in the same room as our stoves really seems to boost efficiency for everything.

It's loud like a window unit and takes up floor space, those are the only cons I can find when compared to a mini split.

I had one of those before I had the mini split installed (different brand, but same thing basically). I used it mainly for AC in my living room, but occasionally used it for heat when the pellet stove had been bundled up for the summer.

Worked fine for AC, dehumidify and heat. It does lose some of the exhaust heat/cool (depending on mode) back into the room from the hose. Also uses more electricity than a mini split. But, if you just use it occasionally, the difference would not be enough to worry about.
 
I had one of those before I had the mini split installed (different brand, but same thing basically). I used it mainly for AC in my living room, but occasionally used it for heat when the pellet stove had been bundled up for the summer.

Worked fine for AC, dehumidify and heat. It does lose some of the exhaust heat/cool (depending on mode) back into the room from the hose. Also uses more electricity than a mini split. But, if you just use it occasionally, the difference would not be enough to worry about.
I use closed cell adhesive backed foam to make a gasket around the hose connections. I find both of our units to be very efficient, but I don't lean on them too hard either.