Heat Pumps
 

Who has? Do they work just or work well? Can they replace AC when it’s really hot, or heater when it’s really cold? What’s the advantage of one?

Historically, they work great for hot weather and are only good down to about 40-45°.

From what I understand modem models are good down to much lower temps. I should be getting a new modern one this year.

Heat pump is really the same as AC unit, a compressor some pipe and two heat exchangers, but what coil is hot can be chosen, if that makes sense. Just compressing a gas. Most modern units are approx two to three times more efficient than using electric resistance heating.

Big push for everybody to convert to them up here, lots of clean water powered electricity, but I am keeping the high efficiency gas furnaces for now. Hard to determine what is less expensive to run between the two, depends on how many service charges are added to the bill at the end of the month.

JYL.

Describe really cold?

Do you have Solar?


What is your reasoning behind wanting to not use Natural Gas.

I'm new to selling HVAC. I have a heatpump and it works well but we don't get below 30 I'm learning that the ductwork should be changed at the same time to enhance the system.

There's a heat strip that works to enhance the system when it's really cold.

And that heat strip for the colder weather sucks electricity big time!

The man said they work well in a modern well insulated home.

Big ole draughty places like I live in they wouldn't work so well. They would be nice for between seasons where you want to bring the temperature up or down a bit.

And the bad? I just spent an hour outside. Mine might be low on gas. It froze up.. air temperature 46°. Condenser temperature 28 °

Jim. Maybe you need to replace the defroster control board and sensor. The condenser temp is hard to explain - maybe low on coolant? I know next to nothing about them technically - just what I've learned from when mine have had a problem.

They are great. 1/2 my home is conditioned by one. Also, I know most all of the larger HVAC contractors in the Metro area if you have questions.

Marv, you're probably right. That's what one of the techs is saying

About 4 years ago we replaced our aging dual fuel heat pump system with a modern system . It is an 18 SEER Goodman with propane furnace . So during warm weather AC cools the house .

During cold weather down to around 30 degrees the heat pump does the heating . Think reverse AC . Our system does NOT have backup heat strips . Instead it has the propane furnace as backup . There is software programming that tells the system when to switch from heat pump to furnace .

It is a seamless transition and works very well for our weather here in north Georgia . The system is so efficient that our electric bill on average is $50.00 less per month vs our previous system . We also went from previous 10 SEER to current 18 SEER so major efficiency upgrade .

-26 deg F here this morning.
My gas furnace is firing both stages to warm up the house and my gas fireplace is helping take the chill off the tv room.
Heat pumps have their place, but it is not here.

Heat pumps work until about 25F.
Any colder and aux heat is needed; gas or elect back up.
Cold climate heat pumps are here and we are currently testing several down to -20F.
Not sure when they will hit the stores.

Frozen coils usually mean low refrigerant or low airflow.
Step one is change your filter and clean the coil.
If that doesn't work then get a tech to check pressures and troubleshoot.

Our current system was installed in 1991, so it's over 30 years old. It's a heat pump with electric heat backup. Our house is very, very poorly insulated. The heat pump portion keeps us comfy as long as the temps are above 45º, then we need the electric backup. We're going to stick with a heat pump when we replace the system this year.

Yes, it is basically an air conditioner that can work backwards. Mine stops working below 45 degrees. Above 45 it works great, including AC in summer. Below 45, the gas turns on.

The Pacific Northwest is perfect for heat pumps because of our mild climate. Virtually the entire year is spent between 40 and 75 degrees.

Heat pumps are great down to mid 30's at which point you need an alternative heat source. Think electric resistance or my case propane. If you have access to ng, that works too. A/C is like normal a/c. because that's what it is.

Please note all the above comments pertain to air source heat pumps. Depending upon the age and model they will provide interior heat down to 5 or ten degrees below freezing.
For cold climates, a better option would be a ground source heat pump. Many refer to these as geothermal, but that is not strictly accurate.
With a ground source heat pump, you are using the ground and or water below as a heat source or sink. An open loop system typically uses a pair of wells as water sources. Water is extracted from one well, chilled to provide heat for the dwelling and returned to the other well. In summer time, heat removed from the air in the dwelling would be passed off to the water source.
A closed loop system would typically run a heat exchange loop either in a large well or in a trench system near the dwelling. The heat exchange fluid in closed loop systems would normally use a glycol mixture.

Hope this helps.
Les

I've been contemplating the move to Heat Pump also.
16 degrees here this morning and sunny- the local furnace guy gave our 14 year old York natural gas furnace a once over, when he was finished he said it's still in good shape, variable fan and flame type- keep it for at least another 5 years.

I asked him about the move to HP, he suggested a hybrid system.
NG furnace coupled to the Heat Pump.
Furnace heat's the place up only when needed and the HP takes over.

We are getting more days above 90 than in the last 5 decades I've spent here, so AC is beginning to sound better and better.

"Heat pump" is a process and is not necessarily tied to air/air split type conditioners.

My geothermal "heat pump" does not use air. It is water/water and works very well even when it is cold outside.