heat pump?

[fatcharlie]

My central air is beyond repair, and the furnace is getting old so I'm thinking it might be worth replacing both together. I'm wondering if I maybe should be looking into a heat pump. Any thoughts on intsallation cost, operational cost, reliability of a heat pump vs. central air and gas furnace?

I'd appreciate any thoughts or oppinions.

Thanks,

F.C.

[dkpd1581]

Ask some basic questions like what is the average low temperature in the area that you live, what is the cost of gas service versus the cost of using the heat pump to heat the house, how old/well insulated  is your house, how long do you intend to stay there, and what temperature do you wish to maintain throughout the heat season.

In general, heat pumps are very good at taking the heat outside the home and "pumping" it inside to heat the house.  There is, however, a balance point that is reached where the cost of the total electricity consumed by the system to heat the home begins to exceed the power/heat out.  At this point, the system typically uses electric strip heat to make up the difference.  This point is again dependent on the outside temperature, the "tightness" of the home, and the efficiency of the heat pump itself known as the SERE rating.  Electric heat is 100% efficient - it is also VERY expensive - when the heat strips kick in to help out.

Some people object to heat pumps in heat mode because they do not blow as warm as a typical gas style heater.  The heat pump may be producing 90F air supply which is in fact warmer than the room temp and is supplying heat; however, this may be percieved as a cool draft despite the fact that heating of the space is occuring.  People like that 120-130F "hot" air coming out of the vents.  If you are one of these people, invest in quality 90+ percent condesing furnace with straight AC.

My personal choice is the dual fuel heat pump.  It acts as a normal heat pump down to around the balance point of the unit.  At that time, a sensor realizes that it is getting too cold outside for the machine to efficiently heat the house.  The unit then switches over to gas service and uses a standard style gas furnace to heat the space.  You get the best of both worlds in comfort and energy savings.

Most machines these days are reliable, just ask around and see which one is easier to be serviced.  If your tech can't get to it to fix it or service it, then your machine will go neglected.  Make sure that parts are easily available.  Some manufacturers design "Brand Loyalty" right into the machines - meaning that you can only get the part from them - no generic or after market replacements will fit and work properly in the machine.  Go with Puron (R410) refrigerant.  Like it or not, the fact remains that the old standard R22 refrigerant is being phased out and R22 units will no longer be manufactured after 2010.  Parts and refrigerant will become very cost prohibitive within a few years.  If you buy R22 units now, in 2.5 years, they will be no longer produced.  R22, which was once $65 for 30 lbs is now at $125 for the same amount.  Those costs will only continue to rise and be passed onto you.  Are you willing to pay exhorbitant prices in 5, 7, 10 ,15 years.  You expect your machine to last that long, however, the costs to repair will overtake the cost of a new install with R410.  Bite the bullet now and go with the new standard R410 (Puron is the Dupont Chemical Company's trade name).

If you REALLY want to go all out and have the money to back up the desire, go with a geo-thermal heat pump.  I have no idea how deep your pockets are, however, these things are pretty much the Cadillac of the field.  They use the heat/energy within the ground to heat your home and use the same ground to regect the heat taken from inside the home in the cooling season.  The air temp in most places can range from say 15F to over 100F.  Forgive me I went to government schools, that is a range of 85F that your machine must operate in.  Geothermal heat pumps bury a ground loop that  does the exact same job of the piece of equipment that sits outside your home.  Since it is burried below the frost line, the environment it is in never changes more than a few degrees (typically it hovers around 53-54F ALL YEAR LONG).  That is PERFECT conditions for heating and cooling - versus the 85F difference for a standard unit.  The Pro is that it is super efficient energy and money wise.  The Cons are the initial up front cost of the install.

Hopefully this doesn't create more questions than it answers.  Best of luck and let us know what you decide

[applianceman18007260692]

Contact your power company and ask them to give you an estimate of what your power bill will be if you convert. Tell them you are thinking about a Gas heating system vs a heatpump. chances are you might get a very good deal on a heat pump from your power company AND they will put it on the power bill in small increments. Depending on the size of your home, it might save enough money to pay for itself.

[Brew Man]

Hey,

I would stay away from a heat pump,they are sized for cooling not heating.They may have the cooling capabilities but fall short when it comes to heating your house.Check it out,you need 12,000 btu's (one ton)for every 400 sq ft of your home for cooling. You need 50 btu's per sq ft for heating.Do the math and you'll see what I'm talking about.I'm from arizona and I have had alot of customers complain about the lack of heat from a heat pump.

[applianceman18007260692]

I live in south alabama where it is summer 10 months a year and it gets cold 1 or days ayear

it last snowed in 1995

the humidity here is 80 % most of the time

Yes I live in a swamp

you on the other hand get some rather extreme cold

sso I guess it is where your location is.

[fatcharlie]

Thanks to all who gave input here. After getting some estimates I don't see what would be the advantage of a heat pump in this region, except maybe if you don't have natural gas directly to the house, the units were not near as cheap as some people I talked to were telling me. With what we should save in utilities with a 14SEER AC and 95% eff. furnace I think we will be getting a good deal.

 

F.C.