Heat pump in next week's weather

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our first two homes had a heat pump and we were always cold in the winter and our electric bill was ridiculous when auxiliary heat had to kick in. Granted we currently live in the Midwest, so winters are much colder than DC. Our current house has gas and it makes winter so much more bearable. The house heats up much faster and the air does not get as dry. The air blowing out is also toasty warm. I don't think I would ever go back to a heat pump.

Same. Gas is 100% better. It is insane that electric heat pumps are even a thing. They don't work below freezing when you need them the most??

Ours is working great. We have it set down to 62 at night which sounds crazy but even keeping it at 65/66 it was coming on all the time at night and making me too hot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s cold and a pipe froze in my garage [/quote

Say more. I've never experienced this and I'm curious what happens when a pipe freezes and then the aftermath.

Extreme case, but friends I had at UChicago had hot water heat as well as water pipes. Went home to LA over winter break. Came back to an ice palace with broken radiators and water pipes.

And, they were in law school, so they got some practice dealing with their landlord.

[Anonymous]

Had one installed in early January of this year. It managed to handle the cold small without restoring to auxillary heat coils. But the thing runs constantly.

[Anonymous]

During the extreme cold last week, it kept the house at about 65-66 when we had the thermostat set at 67-68. The auxiliary came on when it got really cold. Since the heat has been running nonstop, our monthly bill like likely be about $350-400 — although it’s usually between $150-250, depending not he season.

[Anonymous]

DP Ugh just saw my $645 bill. Was expecting 400-500

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP Ugh just saw my $645 bill. Was expecting 400-500

Mine's double

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My neighbor recently bought my former neighbor's house, one year ago. He had no idea what a heat pump was. He's been struggling, and been using his electric fireplace and space heaters. This is a new heat pump.

He was shocked when I told him that most houses on the street have gas now, although they were all originally all electric. Gas was brought to the street in the 90s... I think I know why.

The likely problem here is the design of the system and the insulation of the house. Our heat pump in an end unit DC rowhouse has been having no issues this week.

In many houses the cost of making the house heat pump friendly can be quite high. Each house is different. We were not in a position to gut our house to improve all the insulation and put in new ductwork, so we got a heat pump and an auxiliary gas furnace and replaced the insulation in the attic. The heat pump works great when the temps are above 35F. Below that the furnace kicks in and does not generate astronomical electricity bills.

Our end unit row house is 130 years old and not very well insulated either and the heat pump is somehow managing just fine. I just checked and the auxiliary heat did not even kick in in the last two days which honestly surprises me. In a new build with proper insulation a high quality heat pump would be a no brainer for me due to its much higher energy efficiency. That is if I had to do air. In Europe radiant underfloor heating is the gold standard and it is way more comfortable than forced air. That would be my first choice if comfort is the main priority.

I am so glad both of our HVAC systems are working well. However, I wish you weren't so insistent about what type of system other people should have and that if it isn't working it is because they did it wrong. Get over yourself.

well, if it is not working something IS obviously wrong and I would like to understand what it is if I was them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our first two homes had a heat pump and we were always cold in the winter and our electric bill was ridiculous when auxiliary heat had to kick in. Granted we currently live in the Midwest, so winters are much colder than DC. Our current house has gas and it makes winter so much more bearable. The house heats up much faster and the air does not get as dry. The air blowing out is also toasty warm. I don't think I would ever go back to a heat pump.

Same. Gas is 100% better. It is insane that electric heat pumps are even a thing. They don't work below freezing when you need them the most??

The new generation heat pumps most definitely work just fine below freezing. It is funny how insistent this thread is on how terrible heat pumps are. They really are not if they are installed by someone who knows what they are doing and in a decently insulated house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our first two homes had a heat pump and we were always cold in the winter and our electric bill was ridiculous when auxiliary heat had to kick in. Granted we currently live in the Midwest, so winters are much colder than DC. Our current house has gas and it makes winter so much more bearable. The house heats up much faster and the air does not get as dry. The air blowing out is also toasty warm. I don't think I would ever go back to a heat pump.

Same. Gas is 100% better. It is insane that electric heat pumps are even a thing. They don't work below freezing when you need them the most??

The new generation heat pumps most definitely work just fine below freezing. It is funny how insistent this thread is on how terrible heat pumps are. They really are not if they are installed by someone who knows what they are doing and in a decently insulated house.

9 out of 10 homes in the US are either poorly insulated or not insulated at all. There are often limits to how much you can insulate an older home that wasn't designed the way modern homes are. Unless you do a gut remodel, I guess? Heat pumps also don't do well with smaller ducts, which require tearing up drywall to replace.

You can screech about how "modern heat pumps work just fine" until your face turns red and laugh condescendingly at people who say otherwise if you want. But the reality is people want something that actually works for their home in the real world, and for many, many homes heat pumps are not the best option.

[Anonymous]

My Mitsubishi Hyperheat system maintained my house at my preferred 68F just fine over the cold snap. This type of unit does not have any auxiliary electric or gas backup. My system is rated to operate at peak efficiency down to 5F.

House is single-family, built in 1926. Have done some attic insulation and sealing and windows are ~20 years old, so this isn't a high-performance new build. I think there are lots of cruddy heat pumps out there, but the Mitsubishi cold-weather systems seem to handle this level of cold swimmingly...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Had one installed in early January of this year. It managed to handle the cold small without restoring to auxillary heat coils. But the thing runs constantly.

It sounds like it is a perfectly sized system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Mitsubishi Hyperheat system maintained my house at my preferred 68F just fine over the cold snap. This type of unit does not have any auxiliary electric or gas backup. My system is rated to operate at peak efficiency down to 5F.

House is single-family, built in 1926. Have done some attic insulation and sealing and windows are ~20 years old, so this isn't a high-performance new build. I think there are lots of cruddy heat pumps out there, but the Mitsubishi cold-weather systems seem to handle this level of cold swimmingly...

Tell us more about your system. Is it ducted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Mitsubishi Hyperheat system maintained my house at my preferred 68F just fine over the cold snap. This type of unit does not have any auxiliary electric or gas backup. My system is rated to operate at peak efficiency down to 5F.

House is single-family, built in 1926. Have done some attic insulation and sealing and windows are ~20 years old, so this isn't a high-performance new build. I think there are lots of cruddy heat pumps out there, but the Mitsubishi cold-weather systems seem to handle this level of cold swimmingly...

Tell us more about your system. Is it ducted?

+1 Please tell us more!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Mitsubishi Hyperheat system maintained my house at my preferred 68F just fine over the cold snap. This type of unit does not have any auxiliary electric or gas backup. My system is rated to operate at peak efficiency down to 5F.

House is single-family, built in 1926. Have done some attic insulation and sealing and windows are ~20 years old, so this isn't a high-performance new build. I think there are lots of cruddy heat pumps out there, but the Mitsubishi cold-weather systems seem to handle this level of cold swimmingly...

Tell us more about your system. Is it ducted?

Yes, ducted on the top two levels, with a wall unit for the basement. Both connect to the outside compressor unit. These types of systems are used all over Europe, Japan, and South America, but the US has been kind of slow to adopt. Bill just came in for last month $315 (Dominion) with the cold snap. I used to pay close to $400/mo in gas alone in prior winters, not nearly as cold as this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Mitsubishi Hyperheat system maintained my house at my preferred 68F just fine over the cold snap. This type of unit does not have any auxiliary electric or gas backup. My system is rated to operate at peak efficiency down to 5F.

House is single-family, built in 1926. Have done some attic insulation and sealing and windows are ~20 years old, so this isn't a high-performance new build. I think there are lots of cruddy heat pumps out there, but the Mitsubishi cold-weather systems seem to handle this level of cold swimmingly...

Tell us more about your system. Is it ducted?

Yes, ducted on the top two levels, with a wall unit for the basement. Both connect to the outside compressor unit. These types of systems are used all over Europe, Japan, and South America, but the US has been kind of slow to adopt. Bill just came in for last month $315 (Dominion) with the cold snap. I used to pay close to $400/mo in gas alone in prior winters, not nearly as cold as this one.

Nice! How big is your house and how much did your system cost?