5 ms·

1. Heat pumps make it possible to use renewables for heating your house. 2. People in climate where heating dominates cooling for energy use don't usually have

by ajuc 5y ago

1. Heat pumps make it possible to use renewables for heating your house. 2. People in climate where heating dominates cooling for energy use don't usually have AC. 3. As heat pumps (and solar panels) get popular - prices of both fall to the point where it's worth it.

pengaru 5y ago
So "heat pump" is being used by the industry to ambiguously describe reversible heat pumps that can do both heating and cooling? It's an incredibly misleading terminology to use. I have a neighbor who last year replaced their small window AC unit in their off-grid desert cabin with what they described as a "heat pump" window unit after being convinced it was a more energy efficient solution for cooling their cabin with their limited solar array. Unsurprisingly it made zero difference because they replaced an existing heat pump with basically the same thing under a different name. Waste of money, not the brightest individual, but the marketing push of new whiz-bang efficient heat pumps falling from the heavens is strong.
- hedora 5y ago
  Shouldn't it save money in the winter (assuming it gets cold in the winter moving forward)?
  - pengaru 5y ago
    Winter isn't their problem, their AC unit was drawing too much power in the summer for their solar to keep up, it drained their batteries. The new one did the same thing unsurprisingly.
    - lsaferite 5y ago
      Their problem is probably more about insulation and air infiltration. With a well insulated and mostly air-tight envelope you can get away with much less heating/cooling capacity.
- ajuc 5y ago
  Heat pumps are optimized and mostly used for heating. Being reversible isn't the point (just like it wasn't the point for AC). In fact many heat pumps aren't reversible because replacing a coal stove heating a traditional water pipes and radiators system - with a reversible heat pump - will mess up your house when water condenses inside walls around the cold pipes. The whole system needs to be designed for this. Also heat pumps are designed differently depending on the climate and operating temperature ranges. So buying a heat pump without asking someone to do the math is very risky and stupid. And probably it breaks the building code.
  - pengaru 5y ago
    > So buying a heat pump without asking someone to do the math is very risky and stupid. It's a f*cking window unit emblazoned with "heat pump" marketing exploiting this ambiguous terminology. All air conditioners are heat pumps, this whole situation is stupid.
  - amanzi 5y ago
    In the 10+ years we've owned our heat pump, we've only ever used it 2 or 3 times for cooling. Here in NZ, heat pumps are really common and are seen as the most efficient form of heating in a house. Gas central heating and log fires are still pretty common, but most people seem to switching to heat pumps.
  - lsaferite 5y ago
    > Heat pumps are optimized and mostly used for heating. I'm not sure I agree with that statement. Living in a hot climate, I've had heat pumps on every house I've lived in for 40+ years here. It's really not even a realistic option to not have one. They are essential in humidity control as well as temperature control.
- pornel 5y ago
  In the UK domestic heat pumps are typically only capable of heating water, in order to be a drop-in replacement for gas boilers for central heating. These heat pumps are not reversible, and there's no cooling option at all, since houses don't have air ducts for AC, and retrofit is usually infeasible.

by ajuc 5y ago

pengaru 5y ago

So "heat pump" is being used by the industry to ambiguously describe reversible heat pumps that can do both heating and cooling? It's an incredibly misleading terminology to use. I have a neighbor who last year replaced their small window AC unit in their off-grid desert cabin with what they described as a "heat pump" window unit after being convinced it was a more energy efficient solution for cooling their cabin with their limited solar array. Unsurprisingly it made zero difference because they replaced an existing heat pump with basically the same thing under a different name. Waste of money, not the brightest individual, but the marketing push of new whiz-bang efficient heat pumps falling from the heavens is strong.

hedora 5y ago
Shouldn't it save money in the winter (assuming it gets cold in the winter moving forward)?
- pengaru 5y ago
  Winter isn't their problem, their AC unit was drawing too much power in the summer for their solar to keep up, it drained their batteries. The new one did the same thing unsurprisingly.
  - lsaferite 5y ago
    Their problem is probably more about insulation and air infiltration. With a well insulated and mostly air-tight envelope you can get away with much less heating/cooling capacity.
ajuc 5y ago
Heat pumps are optimized and mostly used for heating. Being reversible isn't the point (just like it wasn't the point for AC). In fact many heat pumps aren't reversible because replacing a coal stove heating a traditional water pipes and radiators system - with a reversible heat pump - will mess up your house when water condenses inside walls around the cold pipes. The whole system needs to be designed for this. Also heat pumps are designed differently depending on the climate and operating temperature ranges. So buying a heat pump without asking someone to do the math is very risky and stupid. And probably it breaks the building code.
- pengaru 5y ago
  > So buying a heat pump without asking someone to do the math is very risky and stupid. It's a f*cking window unit emblazoned with "heat pump" marketing exploiting this ambiguous terminology. All air conditioners are heat pumps, this whole situation is stupid.
- amanzi 5y ago
  In the 10+ years we've owned our heat pump, we've only ever used it 2 or 3 times for cooling. Here in NZ, heat pumps are really common and are seen as the most efficient form of heating in a house. Gas central heating and log fires are still pretty common, but most people seem to switching to heat pumps.
- lsaferite 5y ago
  > Heat pumps are optimized and mostly used for heating. I'm not sure I agree with that statement. Living in a hot climate, I've had heat pumps on every house I've lived in for 40+ years here. It's really not even a realistic option to not have one. They are essential in humidity control as well as temperature control.
pornel 5y ago
In the UK domestic heat pumps are typically only capable of heating water, in order to be a drop-in replacement for gas boilers for central heating. These heat pumps are not reversible, and there's no cooling option at all, since houses don't have air ducts for AC, and retrofit is usually infeasible.