Is there really much difference in performance and energy savings?
DJ
DJ
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Yes. Gigantic difference in energy consumption while in heating mode. Cooling mode there is no difference. I’m assuming we are talking about resistive electric heat and not a gas furnace.
Personally I would never use a straight cool system. Always go heat pump. -
A heat pump with a gas furnace would be my preference
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Originally posted by Uncle Saggy View Post
Riddle me this: why would you need a gas furnace if you had a heat pump????? That doesn’t make any sense at all???
Bisch
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Heat pumps don't work under 40 degrees. I have a gas back up for the HP in the garage.......Originally posted by Bisch View PostComment
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We have a heat pump here and had one back in PA, where minus temps are common in January & February. We never froze to death so they must workOriginally posted by Johnny Dangerr View Post
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Like so many things in life, it depends...
Gas heat: If you have natural gas in the home, this is usually the best bet for heating, low cost and reliable.
Electric Heat: Reliable but very expensive; resistance heat uses a lot of electricity.
Heat pump: Cost is between gas and electric, but much closer to gas.
A heat pump uses the refrigeration cycle to remove heat from the outdoor air and move it into the home; it can only do this until the heat content of the outdoor air is too low to meet the needs of the home. This called the balance point; IOW, the home is losing heat faster than it can be added by the heat pump. Once the balance point is reached a heat pump uses electric heat to supplement; this is called auxiliary heat. The heat pump will periodically need to be defrosted (the outdoor unit) when this happens the unit witches back to cooling mode and the electric heat is used to warm the home. So a heat pump also uses electric heat at least some of the time.
Hybrid heat, which is what it is called now, uses a gas furnace in the place of electric heat on a heat pump; so you have a heat pump connected to a gas furnace. This really is the best of both worlds, but is usually the most expensive upfront.
To really know what the difference is, cost wise, you will need to analyze your usage in gas and electricity and compare the three systems.
For a gas furnace you can use the AFUE numbers to compare and for heat pumps COP; these numbers do not compare to each other directly. The department of energy has information on the various systems, but these are generic charts and may not reflect the fuel prices in your area.
A professional service contractor should be able to use your real world numbers to calculate the approximate energy usage of each system and then compare that to the upfront cost to get a lifespan operating forecast for your specific structure.Comment
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My heat pump worked fine all winter, and we had a period where the pond had 3" of ice all the way across it!Originally posted by Johnny Dangerr View Post
BischComment
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Our heat pump at the deer camp has electric heat strips for emergency heat. They kicked on a few times this past winter when the temp was in the teens. I think it would struggle to keep the cabin warm without them when it gets that cold.Comment
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It sounds like most modern heat pumps have gas or electric back up.Originally posted by Bisch View Post
I have a hotel style window unit in the garage. It just needs help under 40 degrees.
I spend 50ish hours a week in the garage running my company......Comment
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Originally posted by Bisch View Post
I’m a bit further north so winter temps are colder. Electric emergency heat is very expensive.
I figured out the temp where the hp becomes inefficient and have the gas heat set to kick in then.
Lowered bills all around and gas heat is much more comfortable.
Yes, quite a bit more expensive on the front end, but I got it at cost and installed myself. [emoji851]Comment
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