Agree 110%
extreme cold
- Thread starter zrxkawboy
- Start date
heat pumps will also provide air conditioning in summer. We no longer run our 22 year old central air system. The heat pumps cool better, and also cut the summer electric usage in half.
I read somewhere a few years ago that the US had done the best of any G20 country (this could be wrong - may have been G8, but you get the idea) in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
How? Primarily by converting most of its thermal electricity generation from coal-fired to natural-gas-fired.
Natural gas is not perfect, but it is a really good interim fuel, and will be for decades yet.
Ah, yes, but your A/C unit sits unused for the winter, waiting for corrosion to take place.
Here is my latest fill of propane which was 255 gallons. Coincidently, I’m back on the heat pump now and my propane use will now be mostly for water heating but not that much for house heating. Heating with propane last month was the equivalent of $26 USD per million BTU and the cost of running the heat pump today is $8 USD per million BTU and will get cheaper as the COP increases with warming temperatures. I have cheap hydro electricity and expensive propane which makes things ideal for a heat pump when the temps are above 27 F. For the Greenie Girlfriend mentioned earlier, there are no carbon emissions from the hydro electricity powered heat pump. 
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Last night was supposed to be our last really cold night, around -29°C.
Today is beautiful, around -15°C and sunny. I got out for some cross-country skiing earlier this afternoon.
Today is beautiful, around -15°C and sunny. I got out for some cross-country skiing earlier this afternoon.
My friend is miserable with his newly installed heat pump can't get his house over 60 with it being 16Fdegrees on the overnight. As I told him the system is only as good as the installation. Bad installer the system won't hit it's mark it's designed for.
Guys thanks for all of the feedback. It looks like I am on the same page as most of you. Truth be told, I have never lived in a house with a heat pump. I did however live in a house while I was in college that had electric baseboard heat. The house was built in the mid 60's and did not have thermopane windows, but we did our best to use that plastic shield product (you know the one that you install with a hairdryer) to try to improve on the sealing of the drafty windows.
Long story short, when we got the first electric bill that winter we shut off the base board heat immediately as we could not afford it as poor college kids. We all slept with electric blankets at night, and in the daytime and weekends we used an old Kerosun heater to provide heat in the living room only. Needless to say we only lived there for one semester.
In closing, I think if my son indeed goes this route that he is contemplating, I think he is going to be severely disappointed with the performance and also possibly with the financial results, just to be compliant with his GF's environmental wishes.
Long story short, when we got the first electric bill that winter we shut off the base board heat immediately as we could not afford it as poor college kids. We all slept with electric blankets at night, and in the daytime and weekends we used an old Kerosun heater to provide heat in the living room only. Needless to say we only lived there for one semester.
In closing, I think if my son indeed goes this route that he is contemplating, I think he is going to be severely disappointed with the performance and also possibly with the financial results, just to be compliant with his GF's environmental wishes.
It was -3 degrees here last night. Definitely been an up and down winter here in IL but on Sat its suppose to be up to 50 degrees. We will see how long that lasts though. At least I was able to fix the heater on my rental house before it got really cold a few weeks ago. Induction motor decided to destroy itself, fortunately it was an easy enough fix once the new motor I ordered came in.
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- Apr 25, 2023
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Down to below 40 F here for a few nights. 40 F or lower is important because that is when church warming shelters open up for the homeless to stay overnight inside. They get a hot meal prepared by a church and our church (Sunday school class) makes a lunch for them to leave with the next morning: This winter being colder than recent we've been making these lunches regularly. I know that's not cold for those of you up north or in the mid-west but it is cold for coastal South Carolina, especially for those who live outside.
Lots of good info. Let me organize it like this.
Do you want air conditioning? Get a heat pump. It’s not much more.
Do you have natural gas? Heat with a natural gas furnace.
Are you stuck with propane with no chance of getting natural gas? If you have a heat pump run it to as low of an outside temp as you can then switch over automatically to the the propane furnace or alternatively to the heating strips.
Do you give a hoot about your carbon footprint? Take a look at your electricity source and decide if it’s low carbon and in that case heat with a modern heat pump. It your electricty source is coal, just burn natural gas if you can get it. If you don’t care about carbon go back to the beginning.
I think that sums it up.
Do you want air conditioning? Get a heat pump. It’s not much more.
Do you have natural gas? Heat with a natural gas furnace.
Are you stuck with propane with no chance of getting natural gas? If you have a heat pump run it to as low of an outside temp as you can then switch over automatically to the the propane furnace or alternatively to the heating strips.
Do you give a hoot about your carbon footprint? Take a look at your electricity source and decide if it’s low carbon and in that case heat with a modern heat pump. It your electricty source is coal, just burn natural gas if you can get it. If you don’t care about carbon go back to the beginning.
I think that sums it up.
Fantastic Summary!
Woodstove fits in there too for us.
Saves on a gym membership and on propane, and is pretty close to carbon neutral!
Maybe I can market that? sell a battery powered chainsaw, a splitting maul, wheelbarrow, a wood stove, and a little screen for someone to yell at you to split more and stack faster, all for $4995, plus $59/month membership... Call it the "Burner" exercise system...
Does it come with a lumberjack beard and flannel button ups?
Sorry for the delay, had to actually be at work to look at it.
It's a Payne which is also Carrier from what I've found.
5 Ton 3PH unit with electric duct strips. Not 100% comparable to home use but heat pumps don't change with size and being 3 phase just makes it more efficient electrically.
This rational makes sense, but only based on current electricity rates. Given how long solar panel array installations can last, I would question any assumptions that electricity rates will remain stable. Energy price stability is vulnerable for many reasons, including geopolitical. I say this as a child of the 1970s when I watched my parents Experience the financial shock of high home heating bills at the same time that gasoline prices skyrocketed. As much as I enjoy tinkering with older, Carbureted vehicles, the fuel consumption rates of Pre-1980s American cars could make a grown person cry if gas prices went up substantially. I’m not suggesting I know for sure that electricity rates will become ridiculously high in the next two decades, but these days, I make no assumptions about anything anymore 
