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>heat pumps are kinda awful Heat pumps work great under the right circumstances. In cold climates like Boston and north of it, ideally you want ground source,
by smolder 2y ago
>heat pumps are kinda awful
Heat pumps work great under the right circumstances. In cold climates like Boston and north of it, ideally you want ground source, which means digging deep (or wide) holes to flow water through instead of just pulling heat from outside air. Alternatively, (or additionally, ideally) they're best used in homes with very tight air envelopes, good insulation, and heat/energy recovery ventilation (HRV/ERV) systems. Installed in radiant heating systems in well-built houses, heat pumps are fantastic and you'll be comfortable all year for pennies on the dollar.
The reality is that most (US) construction, especially older, is just terrible in terms of air seal and insulation. Couple that with a potentially undersized air-source heat pump, which gets inefficient as the outside temp gets near the low end of its operating range, and you will not have a great time. But even then they are a good way to supplement gas heating, so you can limit furnace use to the coldest weeks of the year and do the environment a favor, as well as cool in the summer.
- thehappypm 2y agoThe issue with supplementing with gas is that you still need a gas furnace. And if you have a gas furnace, why spend $10k+ on a heat pump?
- smolder 2y agoYou shouldn't spend that much. If you need an air conditioning system, making it a bidirectional heat pump is negligible unless people are trying to rip you off. (They are) Are you one of the grifters or just confused?
- thehappypm 2y agoComparing a cold-climate AC to a cold climate heat pump shows how confused YOU are. ACs in cold climates are cheap. Cooling a house down 20 degrees doesnt take a lot of BTUs. Plus they’re just cheaper per-BTU and a typical northeast homeowner is going to be comfortable installing a cheap brand because it’s not life-or-death if your AC goes out. When you start talking about having a heat pump being the primary heat source in a cold climate home, that’s a different ball game. First you need WAY more BTUs to heat a house in winter lows — even NYC hits single-digits most winters, that’s a 60 degree temperature differential. And you need to be prepared for the worst temperatures which basically necessitates a top-end brand like Mitsubishi which is rated down to historic-ish lows. Not to mention that many homes don’t have central ducts, so converting to a heat pump means ductwork or mini splits.. All in all it’s not really a negligible thing.
- smolder 2y agoNo, the difference in cost between central air conditioning (a heat pump that works in one direction) and a heat pump that works in both directions is negligable unless you're being ripped off.
- thehappypm 2y agoJust saying something doesn’t make it true. Here’s a concrete example that took 5 minutes to find. Two condensers from the same company, same seller, same SEER, same series, same tonnage, except the second does heat. The heat pump is 29% more expensive. 2 Ton 14.3 SEER2 Trane Air Conditioner Condenser - RT Series. $1615 2 Ton 14.3 SEER2 Trane Heat Pump Condenser - RT Series. $2090 https://hvacdirect.com/trane-a4ac4024d1-2-ton-14-3-seer2-air-conditioner-condenser-runtru-by-trane-158002.html https://hvacdirect.com/trane-a4ac4024d1-2-ton-14-3-seer2-air... https://hvacdirect.com/trane-a4hp4024d1-2-ton-14-3-seer2-heat-pump-condenser-runtru-by-trane-157888.html https://hvacdirect.com/trane-a4hp4024d1-2-ton-14-3-seer2-hea...
- smolder 2y agoThat very quickly pays for itself.
- thehappypm 2y agoGoalposts movin’ like crazy
- smolder 2y agoGoalposts haven't moved. Refer to my first post and stop spreading FUD about heat pumps.
- thehappypm 2y agoYou’re spreading the FUD