4 ms·
Windchill doesn't effect, and you can handle small dips below -15 F (like for a couple hours at night) because the house has some thermal mass. However, Duluth,
by elil17 4y ago
Windchill doesn't effect, and you can handle small dips below -15 F (like for a couple hours at night) because the house has some thermal mass. However, Duluth, MN is right at the edge of being too cold for this heat pump (99th percentile cold temperature in the coldest month is -15.16 F). If I was in Duluth and was considering a heat pump, I'd want to make sure I had an electric furnace or some space heaters as a backup. However, it would still be worth it to get the heat pump because you'd be able to heat your home much more efficiently/cheaply >99% of the time.
- hedora 4y agoEven in coastal California, most ducted heat pumps have a built in electric or gas furnace. I imagine anything sold in areas where it actually gets cold will as well.
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y agoHere at 7000' near Santa Fe, I know dozens of homes, many new construction, that are heat pump only to all effects and purposes (i.e. they may also have fireplaces but these are not part of the normal heating systems nor part of any plan for the 0F-5F winter nights we can get. Heat pumps can handle things by themselves down to around -10F to -15F, if correctly sized and installed.
- hedora 4y agoWhat brand? Most of the low temperature ones I’ve seen include resistive heating. At some point the COP of the heat pump approaches 1. Also, having heat to -15, then switching to no heat isn’t ideal.
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y agoMitsubishi. Their "extreme" models do not switch to resistive heating, but deal with the critical problem at very low temps: partial freezing of the refridgerant. They divert some of the heat into fully melting the refridgerant. This reduces the COP but keeps them functioning.