Heat Pump Replacement
 

We just did an inspection for the purchase of a 1920's farmhouse near Brenham, TX. Overall, the house is in good shape, but it does need some work. Besides needing to build a garage, high on the list is how to address the old heat pumps made in 1999 and 1971, for the downstairs and upstairs. The inspector said that both units should be replaced. Since gas is not available, this needs an all electric solution. He mentioned that an option would be to convert the heat pumps to conventional A/C condensing and evaporator units and put heat strips in the existing air handlers for heat. I think he viewed this as a lower cost solution to replacing the heat pumps. This house is 1.5 story and 2100 sqft and will be mostly be used as a weekend place. The weather in this part of Texas is mostly hot, with mild winters. Thanks in advance for your comments.

We had a similar situation with a 2800 sqft house out in the country near Rockport which had a heat pump for heating and cooling (natural gas not available). We were really pleased with the heat pump and the few times it got to cold for the heat pump to really warm the house the auxiliary electric heat strips would kick on. Not sure how it would work near Brenham as it will get colder there than near the coast.

I would suggest you ask around and see what others in that situation are doing. Our electric bill was noticeably higher when we had to run the heat strips as opposed to just the heat pump warming the house.

What the inspector suggested is probably the most economical way in the short term. However, as old as your air handlers are I would be leary of "upgrading" them with electric heat strips and electric heat strips are probably the most uneconomical way to heat the house..

If you plan to use the house often and keep it, I think in the long run new higher efficiency heat pumps and air handlers with auxiliary electric heat strips would be the way to go... definitely not the most economical however.

I don't know Jack, but he is bang on here!

Talk to the neighbors and find out what good reliable installer/service companies are in the area. I would then have them do a load calculation to get the right size of units in place.

People have their favorite manufacturers but they are all pretty similar.

Mitsubishi split heat pump system. For every kW of electricity in, you get 3kw of heat out with a h.p. system. East to install and very quiet and efficient.

I use Mitsubishi here too. By far the most common, and the crowd is not usually wrong.

How did the Home Inspector determine the units were bad? If he's basing it strictly on age, that's not a good reason to replace them. I installed a Heat Pump in my home back in 1995 and it's the same unit outside the home today. Are there more energy efficient units on the market? Yep. Is the R22 in the older units getting expensive? Yep. But are either of those reason to spend thousands replacing the old systems? I don't think so.

If the older unit is for the second floor, I might consider replacing it simply because a more efficient A/C wouldn't hurt. Depending on the layout of the home, the second floor unit probably doesn't work all that hard for heat since heat rises.

I'll also throw out the suggestion for a Mitsubishi mini split system. I have a 2 ton 19 SEER unit in my 24 x 26 garage with 14 ' ceiling peak. Standard stick built construction with 2 x 4 walls, concrete floor and insulated garage door. R19 insulation in walls and ceiling and for almost 8 months now I have had it running 24/7. Regardless of on AC or heat it's costing me about $20.00 a month to run. Very efficient and VERY quiet.

Thank you all sharing your insights. You all gave me a few new things to consider.