OT: Electrical head with heat pump

Electrical head with heat pump

Dennis J. Gooding

>Craig, you do not say where you are or what is the climate there. Heat pumps are best suited to areas where the winter climate is fairly mild, i.e., not often below 20 deg F. When operating in that environment they will produce (as I recall) about 3 times as many BTU's per kW-Hr as with resistance heating. Heat pump systems switch to resistance heating when the outside temperature is too low to work in the heat pump mode. Here in Southern Oregon, my system rarely goes into resistance heating mode. For more info do a Google search on "heat pump" and efficiency. BTW, my house has 200 A service. Dennis

Re: OT: Electrical head with heat pump

Bill Turpin in WNC mountains

>Straight electric heat is the MOST expensive option available. There are 3413 BTUs in one kilowatt hour. 100,000 BTUH/3413 = 29.3 KWH x $.083/KWH =$2.43/hour = $58.3/day on the light bill. This is an estimate for a three to four bedroom house @ WNC power rates and zero outside temperature. Modern insulation, windows, etc. will lower this amount. A good, modern heat pump is 2.5 to 3 times as efficient as electric heat when the outdoor temp is 40 to 45�F. 15KW electric furnaces are frequently sized with 80/90 amp breakers.

During winter of 1984 my new, 14' x 70' mobile home with 15 KW electric heat burned $400 in power in seven days with three of those days below zero. That's when I bought a woodstove.

Bill in WNC mountains

Re: OT: Electrical head with heat pump

Kent in Emmaus, PA

>We have an all-electric house, built in the late 60's when it was thought that nuclear-generated power would become so cheap that "they won't even bother to meter it."

Well, that never happened, but the cost of electric heat is not as bad as you might think. Our electric bill averaged $175 / month last year. Remember this is out TOTAL energy cost: heat, AC, lights, cooking, laundry, hair drying, loud music, leaf blowing, tools, everything. I do know that in the house we rented with gas heat(same area), we paid more for total utilities than we do now. The heat pump should help reduce your cost as well.

We're running off a 200A service, with about half of that capacity dedicated to heat. Although this would be considered marginal by current standards, it's worked fine for over 35 years.

Oh yeah, the other advantage of electric heat is that LOML can leave lights on all over the house in the winter at no additional cost.

Re: OT: Electrical head with heat pump

Kent in Emmaus, PA

>In cas it wan't clear, we have straight resistance heating, not a heat pump.

Re: Electrical head with heat pump

Craig Daymon

>Dennis,

Thanks for the info. I'll be about an hour or so north of Philadelphia, PA. Near Souderton, if that helps.

-Craig

Re: OT: Electrical head with heat pump

Craig Daymon

>Well Kent, looks like you would be about 24 miles north and slightly west of me, so I guess that's a fair approximation. I'll have to talk to them about smart thermostats. (This is a new construction townhouse...with a 9 foot basement! I'm still deciding, but they have a lot deposit right now.)

My other consideration is the possibility of a modular house. I've seen some nice plans on www.havenhomes.com and www.modularhomeexpress.com and a couple of others, but I'd still need to find a place to put it and that's not easy.

-Craig

P.S. I understand how wonderful it must be for all you lucky folks with houses to see the value of your property skyrocket, but for those of us trying to get back into a house, this market bites! (Even with current rates.)

Re: OT: Smart t'stats must be reallly smart

Bill Turpin in WNC mountains

>Smart thermostats must be designed for heat pumps. They save energy by setting a lower heat setting at night. Then at a preset time before you rise in morning the thermostat brings the setting back to normal. However most thermostats on HPs bring on the strip heat when a larger differential (between setpoint and actual temp) occurs. The really smart ones know this and taper up to the new setting, keeping the strip heat off.

Bill

Re: OT: Smart t'stats must be reallly smart

Craig Daymon

>Hmmm...Thanks Bill. Even if I don't go the electric heat route, I'll keep that in mind when I tstat shopping for the new house. Still trying to figure if I can buy bread and water after making a house purchase, let alone turn some wood.

-Craig