Mulling Heat Pump Addition

[buckeye95]

All,

I am getting ready to replace my furnace and A/C systems and am mulling the addition of a heat pump as well. I have searched through several posts, but have not really found much definitive information on an issue like this.

Per the HVAC guy, I can add one to the system for about $800 more than the approximately $5K being charged for the rest of the install. As far as savings, I have heard numbers anywhere from nominal to up to a couple hundred dollars per month. The home this will be installed in is newer (20 years old), and has pretty good insulation. I live in Columbus, Ohio, so we do get some cold weather and snow, but it's not too bad overall. My current energy costs are $78 electric and $88 gas year round (budget plan). At this point, we have no plans to move within the next several years.

Has anyone been through this decision that might be able to offer any guidance ? I think my energy bills are relatively low, so I'm not sure if I would save that much to recoup the cost of the heat pump (the brand is Goodman).

Any help would be appreciated,

Regards,

Pete

[geopilot]

I assume you are considering a dual fuel or "hybrid" system- heat pump with back-up gas furnace. We just replaced our ancient system last fall with a Bryant hybrid system. I has really cut our bills, but it all depends on what you pay for electricity. In Kentucky, due to lots of coal-fired power plants on the Ohio River, our electric rates are low, and a heat pump is cheaper to run than gas. Columbus may have similar cheap rates. Ours is set to use the heat pump only above 35 deg, and only gas below 30 deg. Between these limits the system decides what to use based on demand. You can configure these cutoffs to suit your comfort level and fuel preference. The heat pump does feel cooler to me, but we have a 50's house with no insulation in the walls.
I think the dual fuel systems are the way to go- and with fuel costs fluctuating, you can choose what fuel to use. The only disadvantage is the compressor runs summer and winter, but hopefully it's designed for the extra load.

If you have not been there- visit http://www.hvac-talk.com
There is a great residential HVAC forum there.
Dave

[onedash]

well from what I have read heat pumps are the most efficient way to heat your home. All my places in NC and VA have had a heat pump. And if it drops below freezing the alternate heat source was electric (Huge bills when I have to use that). In cali there were electric coil heaters in each room (in the wall) rarely ever used them. They were like a toaster in the wall with a tiny fan.
I would base my decision on how many days you require heat with temps below freezing vs above freezing.
On hometime once they built a log cabin in WI with dual heat and the heat pump was for Fall and Spring.
I guess the best heat pumps are the ones where the coil is buried deep in the ground. Then the weather doesn't matter but no idea what those systems cost. I would guess labor would be the most.

[Habe]

I had a heat pump installed 3 years ago. It is a Bryant and I would do it again. We have gas for back up heat. The heat pump handles the heating on all but the coldest days. Check with the electric co. and see if there is a rate for electric heat. I have it here and it is a big savings as the heat pump is the primary heat so I get the electric heat rate. Do not spend extra for a high eff. furnace as it is the back up system and hopefully it is not going to run that often. I live in Indy so you should have about the same weather. We went with a 13 seer rating on the heat pump. We noticed a big savings in the electric bill in the summer for cooling and the house is more comfortable. Of course the winter electric goes up but the gas bill goes WAY down. After a while you will adjust to the different temp from the registers. The bottom line is that the house is just as warm as before.

[crokett]

I have a heat pump in my house. IMO, heat pumps make better air conditioners than heaters. Our last house was natural gas and the heat was much warmer when it got colder. So as primary heat it would be cheaper, but on really cold days you will be glad you have gas. Plus, if I had gas heat when power went out in the winter I'd still have heat. A small 5KW generator won't run a heat pump but it can power the fan and thermostat for gas heat. That is one reason I put in a woodstove.

[Garasaki]

To the original poster -

You really didn't provide much information for us to give you advice with. What kind of heat pump are you looking at adding? Is it indeed a hybrid system as others have assumed??

I'd love to help, but you simply didn't provide enough info to comment on.

[buckeye95]

Thanks for all the comments. I have been looking at the website noted earlier.

Sorry for the confusion, but yes this will be a hybrid system with both a heat pump, furnace, and A/C. The furnace is to be a two-stage Goodman with 95 % efficiency.

Pete

[DUD]

Pete
You probably haven't looked at it, but a ground source heat pump is a great idea. After initial costs it is very reasonable to run. Bill

[jlake1998]

price conversions

There was a discussion a while back on this and with different prices accros the county there was alot of different opinions on what would be best.

Your going to have to find out your costs per them of natural gas and your cost
per kilowatt-hr of electricty.

1 therm = 100,000 BTU's
1 Kilowatt-hr = 3414 BTU's

multiply the natural gas price delivered price per therm by .034 to give the equivalent price per kilowatt hour of electricty. An example if your price per therm is 1.3 X .034= .0442 cents in kilowatts.

here is a link to conversions
http://www.energykinetics.com/heatin...mparisons.html