Heat pump monthly utility bill

[Anonymous]

If you have a heat pump in a 2700 sq ft house what are your monthly bills like? Assuming a summer temperature of 74 and winter 68. We just moved into an all-electric house with an old AC unit and oil heating, and are exploring the idea of converting to a heat pump.

[Anonymous]

Every house is different.

Two houses, side by side, that were built around the same time can have energy bills that vary by a factor of ten. There is no such thing as "normal" or "average" construction, houses are built one by one. You care about your house, your best bet is to get actual usage data from either the seller or your utility.

The question you need to be asking is how do various fuel sources compare in cost per unit of heat. Because the amount of heat it's going to take to cool your house is the same regardless of the source of that heat. Energy costs vary quite significantly by region, so you need to find out what electricity and fuel oil cost where you are, as well as alternatives like natural gas and propane.

In terms of air conditioning efficiency, every air conditioner or heat pump sold in the US has what's called a "SEER" rating, which stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. Look up the model number on the unit that's there now, and find out its SEER rating. Then look up the SEER rating of equipment you might use to replace it. Usage will proportional to SEER, doubling SEER will cut your electricity bill in half for the same amount of cooling. From past bills you'll be able to see how much that will save.

Generally, in DC, new equipment doesn't pay for itself in cooling, it's best just to replace with high-SEER equipment when it reaches the end of its life. Generally, natural gas is the cheapest fuel for heating, followed by electric heat pump, fuel oil, propane and electric resistance. But it can vary.

Finally, the second biggest user of energy in most houses is heating hot water. If you heat with natural gas, oil or propane you can combine your heating with hot water and save money over an electric water heater.

[Anonymous]

I’d go with a heat pump and scrap the oil. Just try to size it so the backup electric strips don’t come on often. Any contractor should be able to estimate your winter btu load. You should be able to get there with a top of line variable speed carrier or trane. Theyre pretty efficient down to very cold temps.

[Anonymous]

We have the carrier infinity heat pump and it is extremely energy efficient and effective in cooling and heating. Make sure your ducting is well designed and you have decent insulation to make it work its best.

[Anonymous]

1600 sq' house with heat pump. All electric house. I'm expecting a high electric bill of $400 this next bill. Otherwise, it's around 180-240 most of the year with peaks for the coldest and warmest couple of months.

[Anonymous]

Older 1 story 1500 sq ft home with a finished 1000 sq ft basement in Nova. All electric with a two year old higher end Carrier heat pump. I use Dominion’s budget billing and my monthly is $192. Peak usage is Jan or Feb at just over 1500 kilowatts used. Three months of the year I am below 1000kw. Most months I am right around 1000kw. October is always my lowest usage and I stay just below 500kw when there is no demand for heat nor AC.

There are a lot of variables such as the efficiency of your heat pump, windows, insulation etc. FYI, the new heat pump cost me $14K. That included about $1K of duct work to improve air flow in an older home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1600 sq' house with heat pump. All electric house. I'm expecting a high electric bill of $400 this next bill. Otherwise, it's around 180-240 most of the year with peaks for the coldest and warmest couple of months.

That sounds high. We are not all electric, our water heater and range are gas but we did not cook all month because we were redoing the kitchen and our contractors worked with the doors constantly open so the heat pump was running constantly in the insane heat. And still our electric bill was less than $100 last month for a house same size as yours. Gas was about $20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1600 sq' house with heat pump. All electric house. I'm expecting a high electric bill of $400 this next bill. Otherwise, it's around 180-240 most of the year with peaks for the coldest and warmest couple of months.

That sounds high. We are not all electric, our water heater and range are gas but we did not cook all month because we were redoing the kitchen and our contractors worked with the doors constantly open so the heat pump was running constantly in the insane heat. And still our electric bill was less than $100 last month for a house same size as yours. Gas was about $20.

My son comes over and does his laundry. Electric dryers and electric water heaters use a lot of energy. According to that thing they mail me all the time, I'm right on par with my neighbors but below the most efficient neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1600 sq' house with heat pump. All electric house. I'm expecting a high electric bill of $400 this next bill. Otherwise, it's around 180-240 most of the year with peaks for the coldest and warmest couple of months.

That sounds high. We are not all electric, our water heater and range are gas but we did not cook all month because we were redoing the kitchen and our contractors worked with the doors constantly open so the heat pump was running constantly in the insane heat. And still our electric bill was less than $100 last month for a house same size as yours. Gas was about $20.

My son comes over and does his laundry. Electric dryers and electric water heaters use a lot of energy. According to that thing they mail me all the time, I'm right on par with my neighbors but below the most efficient neighbors.

Our dryer is electric too and actually very energy efficient. A few rounds of laundry should not be this expensive. Electric heater if you have a tank might be pricy though. Have you considered tankless?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1600 sq' house with heat pump. All electric house. I'm expecting a high electric bill of $400 this next bill. Otherwise, it's around 180-240 most of the year with peaks for the coldest and warmest couple of months.

That sounds high. We are not all electric, our water heater and range are gas but we did not cook all month because we were redoing the kitchen and our contractors worked with the doors constantly open so the heat pump was running constantly in the insane heat. And still our electric bill was less than $100 last month for a house same size as yours. Gas was about $20.

My son comes over and does his laundry. Electric dryers and electric water heaters use a lot of energy. According to that thing they mail me all the time, I'm right on par with my neighbors but below the most efficient neighbors.

Our dryer is electric too and actually very energy efficient. A few rounds of laundry should not be this expensive. Electric heater if you have a tank might be pricy though. Have you considered tankless?

Tankless electric uses exactly the same amount of electricity as a tank. The only way to get greater efficiency with electric is with a heat pump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1600 sq' house with heat pump. All electric house. I'm expecting a high electric bill of $400 this next bill. Otherwise, it's around 180-240 most of the year with peaks for the coldest and warmest couple of months.

That sounds high. We are not all electric, our water heater and range are gas but we did not cook all month because we were redoing the kitchen and our contractors worked with the doors constantly open so the heat pump was running constantly in the insane heat. And still our electric bill was less than $100 last month for a house same size as yours. Gas was about $20.

My son comes over and does his laundry. Electric dryers and electric water heaters use a lot of energy. According to that thing they mail me all the time, I'm right on par with my neighbors but below the most efficient neighbors.

Our dryer is electric too and actually very energy efficient. A few rounds of laundry should not be this expensive. Electric heater if you have a tank might be pricy though. Have you considered tankless?

Tankless electric uses exactly the same amount of electricity as a tank. The only way to get greater efficiency with electric is with a heat pump.

How can that be true when it does not need to heat a tank full of water constantly? Our gas tankless is definitely way more energy efficient. Why would that be different for an electric tank?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1600 sq' house with heat pump. All electric house. I'm expecting a high electric bill of $400 this next bill. Otherwise, it's around 180-240 most of the year with peaks for the coldest and warmest couple of months.

That sounds high. We are not all electric, our water heater and range are gas but we did not cook all month because we were redoing the kitchen and our contractors worked with the doors constantly open so the heat pump was running constantly in the insane heat. And still our electric bill was less than $100 last month for a house same size as yours. Gas was about $20.

My son comes over and does his laundry. Electric dryers and electric water heaters use a lot of energy. According to that thing they mail me all the time, I'm right on par with my neighbors but below the most efficient neighbors.

Our dryer is electric too and actually very energy efficient. A few rounds of laundry should not be this expensive. Electric heater if you have a tank might be pricy though. Have you considered tankless?

I'm not bothering with a tankless for the added cost. I installed the last two water heaters for less than $600

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1600 sq' house with heat pump. All electric house. I'm expecting a high electric bill of $400 this next bill. Otherwise, it's around 180-240 most of the year with peaks for the coldest and warmest couple of months.

That sounds high. We are not all electric, our water heater and range are gas but we did not cook all month because we were redoing the kitchen and our contractors worked with the doors constantly open so the heat pump was running constantly in the insane heat. And still our electric bill was less than $100 last month for a house same size as yours. Gas was about $20.

My son comes over and does his laundry. Electric dryers and electric water heaters use a lot of energy. According to that thing they mail me all the time, I'm right on par with my neighbors but below the most efficient neighbors.

Our dryer is electric too and actually very energy efficient. A few rounds of laundry should not be this expensive. Electric heater if you have a tank might be pricy though. Have you considered tankless?

Tankless electric uses exactly the same amount of electricity as a tank. The only way to get greater efficiency with electric is with a heat pump.

How can that be true when it does not need to heat a tank full of water constantly? Our gas tankless is definitely way more energy efficient. Why would that be different for an electric tank?

Your gas tankless isn't any more efficient either.

Modern tank water heaters are well-insulated, they lose very little heat. Turn off your water heater, go away for three days. When you come back the water will still be hot.