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But having a furnace means you also have central air. So the question isn’t furnace or heat pump, it’s furnace and one directional heat pump or just a heat pump

But having a furnace means you also have central air. So the question isn’t furnace or heat pump, it’s furnace and one directional heat pump or just a heat pump. Yes, on cold days the furnace will be cheaper, but on most days the heat pump is cheaper and requires less maintenance since you’re turning two appliances into one.

sokoloff 4y ago
Many places in heating-dominated climates do not have central air. I’ve lived 35 years in New England and only one of those places (a modern high-rise) had central air.
- HDThoreaun 4y ago
  Are we talking window unit plus radiator or just no cooling? For window + radiator heat pumps make less sense, but window unit heat pumps work well and are worth considering as a radiator replacement when the window unit is replaced.
  - sokoloff 4y ago
    Many have no cooling at all. Others have window shaker ACs only in bedrooms (which aren’t practical to use window heat pumps as a replacement for radiators since the heating balance would be terrible with the rest of the house and the air leakage around a window unit is really bad when the inside/outside delta-T is 60+°F in winter [versus ~15°F in summer])
  - dsfyu404ed 4y ago
    Window units in practice are "no cooling until there's a heat wave half way through July that prompts you to actually install them".
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
  Uhm. The entire midwest is almost as cold as New England (or colder) and yet has widely installed A/C to deal with hot humid summers. Modern (i.e. non-adobe, non-stone) construction in the higher-altitude mountain west has similar issues (without the humidity). New England is really the exception to the rule, not the rule (it's a lovely, lovely exception though).
  - tstrimple 4y ago
    It was a bit weird when I lived in SoCal. It was the only housing I've lived in without AC. It only got uncomfortable for about a week out of the year, most of the time the ocean winds cooled the air off enough. I can't imagine going without AC living in the midwest and the winters can be absolutely brutal on top of it.

sokoloff 4y ago

Many places in heating-dominated climates do not have central air. I’ve lived 35 years in New England and only one of those places (a modern high-rise) had central air.

HDThoreaun 4y ago
Are we talking window unit plus radiator or just no cooling? For window + radiator heat pumps make less sense, but window unit heat pumps work well and are worth considering as a radiator replacement when the window unit is replaced.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  Many have no cooling at all. Others have window shaker ACs only in bedrooms (which aren’t practical to use window heat pumps as a replacement for radiators since the heating balance would be terrible with the rest of the house and the air leakage around a window unit is really bad when the inside/outside delta-T is 60+°F in winter [versus ~15°F in summer])
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  Window units in practice are "no cooling until there's a heat wave half way through July that prompts you to actually install them".
PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
Uhm. The entire midwest is almost as cold as New England (or colder) and yet has widely installed A/C to deal with hot humid summers. Modern (i.e. non-adobe, non-stone) construction in the higher-altitude mountain west has similar issues (without the humidity). New England is really the exception to the rule, not the rule (it's a lovely, lovely exception though).
- tstrimple 4y ago
  It was a bit weird when I lived in SoCal. It was the only housing I've lived in without AC. It only got uncomfortable for about a week out of the year, most of the time the ocean winds cooled the air off enough. I can't imagine going without AC living in the midwest and the winters can be absolutely brutal on top of it.