4 ms·
Heatpumps work as heat only in climates where temps never hit 0c for a prolonged period of time. You go below 0c for a month, enjoy your baseboard-levels of ef
by slackfan 3y ago
Heatpumps work as heat only in climates where temps never hit 0c for a prolonged period of time.
You go below 0c for a month, enjoy your baseboard-levels of efficiency.
Some anecdata: Neighbor is on heatpumps and has a comparable house (in terms of size) to mine. My house is significantly older than his, worse in terms of insulation, I have a number of old leaky windows, all of his are brand new, etc. I primarily heat with wood, with a oil furnace backup that runs a forced hot air system.
His bill for four straight months last winter for electricity was 800 dollars a month (3200). My total for oil+wood was 2400 total and I still had firewood left over.
He also got to deal with the fun of heatpumps just not working in the dead of winter because it was too cold outside.
- KptMarchewa 3y agoNewer heat pumps work well in much lower temperatures https://www.mncee.org/cold-climate-air-source-heat-pump-final-report https://www.mncee.org/cold-climate-air-source-heat-pump-fina...
- slackfan 3y agoHe installed the (brand new) heatpumps last year, which made the sting of it even worse. Also per that report "can operate" which is very different from "operate without issue" or "operate efficiently".
- GordonS 3y agoAnd yet, heatpumps are very popular across Scandinavia. All my Norwegian friends and colleagues seem to use them, and those I've talked to about it say they work just fine - even airsource pumps when it's -20C!
- slackfan 3y agoNew Mitsubishi Heatpumps that have been hyped up to hell and back here. Past -14c they flat out stopped working for him. I'm sure there'll be a lot of "oh it's the type of heatpump" "oh it's the installation" thing, but he isn't the only aquaintance I have who has seen absolutely diddly-squat for heating efficiency when using heatpumps. Around these parts, if it isn't setting something on fire, then you're probably doing heating wrong. >Nordics The average low winter temps in Stockholm are what, -5c? Oslo doesn't really get below -10-ish? Non-northern nordics are an indicator of approximately nothing in this discussion. :) Finland loves their steam/hydronic heat, which I will guarantee isn't being run off of heat pumps. Anything that's closer to the ocean is going to have a significantly milder winter than going proper north.
- PaulDavisThe1st 3y agoAbove, you claimed that they don't work when the temps hit 0C. Now you tell us a story about them not working at -14C. That's a fairly big difference. Our pumps (mitsubishi hyperheats) struggle a little at 5F (-15C) but they do not stop working, and that's in an old house with terrible insulation. > Finland loves their steam/hydronic heat, which I will guarantee isn't being run off of heat pumps. In my case, the steam is being generated by the 240V electric steam generator that takes power from my 7kW ground mount solar array.
- slackfan 3y agobrainfart on my end, should have said "below 0c for a prolonged..." I'll mea culpa that.