4 ms·
I don't have an idealogical horse in this race, but I bought a ~2500sqft home a few years back in an area where summer highs can get to 100f and winter lows can
by kyleblarson 3y ago
I don't have an idealogical horse in this race, but I bought a ~2500sqft home a few years back in an area where summer highs can get to 100f and winter lows can reach -25f. The house only had a 20 year old electric furnace and no AC. Replaced it with a large heat pump system with a new electric furnace for backup heat when it gets super cold. Also included an air filtration system. It was a big cash outlay, but totally worth it as we now have AC in the summer so we can keep windows closed when the smoke is bad, the filtration system works really well for the smoke, and the system almost never needs to use the furnace backup. Speaking with the previous owner, the winter electric bill savings have been around 30%.
- pkulak 3y agoI'm surprised it's only 30%. Even a COP of 3, which is pretty modest for a modern heat pump, would be 60% savings (abouts, not sure if my math is right).
- pandaman 3y agoMost houses consume electricity for the purposes other than heating too.
- sokoloff 3y agoPeople commonly (by default) compare electric bills on $$ rather than on kW*hr, so an increase in rate would reduce the savings-as-compared. Different baseline electricity use and thermostat preferences could play a significant role as well. (Previous owners may have gone for a lower daytime setting and a deeper setback because of the inefficiency. A new owner with a more efficient system may quite reasonably choose to bias towards greater comfort than the prior owner did.)
- Projectiboga 3y agoNew guy might be getting more comfort by heating more while still using less total electricity.