Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 17:54     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 14:41     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 12:12     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
We have a heat pump in an old house. We turned it down to 66 degrees. We have a wood burning fire place. So far so good. Our house is small. Also, humidifiers help.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 12:10     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
Anonymous wrote:Run, don’t walk. Heat pump is always a deal killer for us, yes even the modern ones. Physics don’t change. Go with gas or propane. Oil is good heat, but you expensive so that’s a deal killer also.


Propane is really expensive as well. At least it is where my parents are.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 12:09     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 10:54     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
We've always had a heat pump in our houses in the DC area. It's always been fine. We replaced the original 90s heat pump with a brand new one two years ago, and it kept our house toasty during this storm. I don't think the emergency heat ever kicked in, but I will check the logs in the thermostat and report back.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 09:42     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
Gas is much warmer than electric.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2026 21:06     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
We added a second unit during a remodel and this is the first big snow since that happened. The house has been chilly (big house, old windows, I try to keep the bill low) but neither unit went to auxiliary heat and the older unit didn't freeze up like it did in the last big storm.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2026 20:49     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
Run, don’t walk. Heat pump is always a deal killer for us, yes even the modern ones. Physics don’t change. Go with gas or propane. Oil is good heat, but you expensive so that’s a deal killer also.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2026 17:23     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
Anonymous wrote:We converted from gas to heat pump for basement/main floor when we had to replace the furnance, motivated by CO2 emissions.

Our attic unit (heating top floor) continues to be gas.

Five for five years, but this Jan our electric bill was $900 (vs $250 for gas) .We see the dreaded "aux heat" on our next a lot now, so are anticipating another ridiculously high energy bill.

Might have invested in a heatpump/gas combo unit (or a small gas backup furnace) if we had anticipated rising electric costs...


$900? How big is your house?
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2026 13:56     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
Anonymous wrote:We have a heat pump that switches to a gas furnace when it gets really cold. Best of both worlds.


+1 same
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2026 12:36     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
We converted from gas to heat pump for basement/main floor when we had to replace the furnance, motivated by CO2 emissions.

Our attic unit (heating top floor) continues to be gas.

Five for five years, but this Jan our electric bill was $900 (vs $250 for gas) .We see the dreaded "aux heat" on our next a lot now, so are anticipating another ridiculously high energy bill.

Might have invested in a heatpump/gas combo unit (or a small gas backup furnace) if we had anticipated rising electric costs...
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 18:16     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
We have a heat pump that switches to a gas furnace when it gets really cold. Best of both worlds.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 16:38     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
We got a dual system with gas furnace when the house was built. Gas goes on somewhere around 35 degrees. No problems. Gas is warm toasty air. We lived in one with electric backup here as a rental and did not like it.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 15:51     Subject: Heat pump in next week's weather
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