Heat Pumps

[oshkosh]

A few years ago I bought my first house (built in the 90s) with all original mechanicals still chugging along. We have oil that fuels both the furnace (forced hot air) and hot water heater using oil burners, in addition to central A/C so the whole house is already ducted. I would like to upgrade all of this, preferably moving entirely away from oil. We are on borrowed time especially with the ol’ Superstor water heater ready to burst at the seams.

I see there are loads of incentives (energizeCT rebates + loans, federal tax credits) for heat pump units and hot water heaters, I just don’t know how well these perform in our climate and whether these are suitable replacements here.

I spoke to a couple HVAC tech’s who both mentioned that heat pumps need a backup heat source for cold days (<30 degrees F), yet I have seen units in my limited research that are rated for performance down to -15F.

I can recite the career stats of Ruslan Inyatkin on demand, but I simply don’t know jack about boilers, burners, furnaces, coils and that speak. Has anyone had a similar experience converting over these systems and can offer any helpful advice?

 

[OceanDoggie]

I spoke to a couple HVAC tech’s who both mentioned that heat pumps need a backup heat source for cold days (<30 degrees F), yet I have seen units in my limited research that are rated for performance down to -15F.

I can recite the career stats of Ruslan Inyatkin on demand, but I simply don’t know jack about boilers, burners, furnaces, coils and that speak. Has anyone had a similar experience converting over these systems and can offer any helpful advice?

I'm not HVAC tech, but am a proponent of Heat pump and the compressor of refrigerant technology. It's been around for a very long time, and most of Europe and the Middle East uses them. I think the aesthetic has stumped its market share in the states, but it's a proven commodity.

The two largest Manufacturers (One in Japan and the other in China) make units designed to operate as low as -23 Fahrenheit. That said, I would certainly maintain the backup heat source solely due to the elements and that the unit must be outdoors for the science to work.

Geothermal sourced heat pump is also an option which is probably ok to operate without a backup but the barrier to entry is extremely high and complex.

 

[ScottBonz]

I missed where you said it was ductless. The capabilities of a ductless system to heat an home are very different from the much more commonly installed ducted systems. You can over size them to heat your house without ruining your cooling capabilities in the summer. They’re modulating. So it can put out 42K heating BTUs in the winter and then lower to 12K cooling BTUs on a mild summer day. They also almost all put out their maximum heating BTUs down to zero degrees (some down to -25 degrees). These can be used to heat an entire home without a secondary heat source.

Too many people either don’t like the way they look or they can’t afford them if they need multiple indoor heads. They are the best electric heating system and I can’t recommend them enough, especially if you have solar. Their capabilities are far greater than a conventional ducted heat pump system though. They really shouldn’t be compared until the latter catches up to capability. Unfortunately they make up the vast majority of Heat Pump systems in the U.S. while the rest of the world uses ductless systems. Most people are going to replace their already existing AC system with a Heat Pump. It’s still a great idea in many cases but if they rip out their secondary heat source or their emergency strips then they’re going to find themselves in a mess during a cold snap.

My house in West Hartford was a 4200 sq foot barn converted into a home. I never had a gas bill over $200 in the winter but I did have 8.0 tons of AC. It would have cost more than a boiler to switch them to heat pumps and my bills would have been higher to heat with them. If I had oil or propane and didn’t already have ductwork I would have gone ductless. A ducted heat pump set up would have cost a fortune to install and would have cost a fortune to heat with during a cold snap.

In west hartford as well and we have 3 floors to cover. Who’d you use? My FIL installed 2 Fujitsus that I use mostly for cooling and when it’s chilly but I don’t want to run the furnace so we can get some heat in our family room where we spend most of our time. Want to finish with 4 more blowers (3rd on the 1st unit and another unit) in the next 3-4 months.

 

[Petero]

The solution we decided on for our 12 room 2 story 4,200 sq foot 1850 farm house with a natural gas single zone forced air system was a ductless air sou rced mini split system. It is a series of 5 external units some with mutiple heads others are single . They range in size from a single 12K btu single unit to a 3 head 36k btu unit totaling 10 heads. Each major room has specific sized head The visual iimpact both internally (from the heads)and externally has been virtually zero (and I have a picky wife). In fact the mini split sound has been a vast
Imrovement over the roar of our central heating ducted system

Every home is different and it is important to work with your installer to come with the best plan possible

We retained our natural gas furnace as a backup. We are converting the system over to propane for the very limited number of days (2 days last winter) we use it. The goal is to eliminate our natural gas use entirely. The dream is to add battery backup system to our solar system (when the costs drop) and say goodbye to the power company entirely, but we aren't their yet.

Shop hard, we had quotes in the $60k range to $26K from a smaller guy before those glorious rebates. It took 2 1/2 days to install the system. How much money can (should) they charge for that amount of time???
Good luck!!

 

[UCan3]

A few years ago I bought my first house (built in the 90s) with all original mechanicals still chugging along. We have oil that fuels both the furnace (forced hot air) and hot water heater using oil burners, in addition to central A/C so the whole house is already ducted. I would like to upgrade all of this, preferably moving entirely away from oil. We are on borrowed time especially with the ol’ Superstor water heater ready to burst at the seams.

I see there are loads of incentives (energizeCT rebates + loans, federal tax credits) for heat pump units and hot water heaters, I just don’t know how well these perform in our climate and whether these are suitable replacements here.

I spoke to a couple HVAC tech’s who both mentioned that heat pumps need a backup heat source for cold days (<30 degrees F), yet I have seen units in my limited research that are rated for performance down to -15F.

I can recite the career stats of Ruslan Inyatkin on demand, but I simply don’t know jack about boilers, burners, furnaces, coils and that speak. Has anyone had a similar experience converting over these systems and can offer any helpful advice?

They are awesome and can’t figure out what would stop someone w/ the funds in need of heat and or ac to do it.

Mitisibishi makes best units. They do heat/ac and are massively efficient. The heat might surprise you - we got rid of pellet stove after a year with those things.

Most have shut off at 20 F because they aren’t as efficient as oil at below this point.
Secondly, unless you have a unit in your basement you do want that heat to kick on otherwise your pipes in the basement will freeze.

You can control these units with WiFi and they do amazing job maintaining a steady temperature. Again, I recommend them without reservation - watch your overall heating/cooling drop cost drop and temp in house improve.

 

[RC111]

which is why I suggested, like in Vermont as well, a lot of them have supplemental wood stoves. Pretty cheap way to heat up there.

This is our plan

 

[MTHusky]

A few years ago I bought my first house (built in the 90s) with all original mechanicals still chugging along. We have oil that fuels both the furnace (forced hot air) and hot water heater using oil burners, in addition to central A/C so the whole house is already ducted. I would like to upgrade all of this, preferably moving entirely away from oil. We are on borrowed time especially with the ol’ Superstor water heater ready to burst at the seams.

I see there are loads of incentives (energizeCT rebates + loans, federal tax credits) for heat pump units and hot water heaters, I just don’t know how well these perform in our climate and whether these are suitable replacements here.

I spoke to a couple HVAC tech’s who both mentioned that heat pumps need a backup heat source for cold days (<30 degrees F), yet I have seen units in my limited research that are rated for performance down to -15F.

I can recite the career stats of Ruslan Inyatkin on demand, but I simply don’t know jack about boilers, burners, furnaces, coils and that speak. Has anyone had a similar experience converting over these systems and can offer any helpful advice?

When we lived in Montana we had a heat pump that didn't need the auxiliary heater until it got down to about minus10. The secret is to keep the heat pretty constant and turn off the auxiliary option.

 

[OceanDoggie]

The solution we decided on for our 12 room 2 story 4,200 sq foot 1850 farm house with a natural gas single zone forced air system was a ductless air sou rced mini split system. It is a series of 5 external units some with mutiple heads others are single . They range in size from a single 12K btu single unit to a 3 head 36k btu unit totaling 10 heads. Each major room has specific sized head The visual iimpact both internally (from the heads)and externally has been virtually zero (and I have a picky wife). In fact the mini split sound has been a vast
Imrovement over the roar of our central heating ducted system

Every home is different and it is important to work with your installer to come with the best plan possible

We retained our natural gas furnace as a backup. We are converting the system over to propane for the very limited number of days (2 days last winter) we use it. The goal is to eliminate our natural gas use entirely. The dream is to add battery backup system to our solar system (when the costs drop) and say goodbye to the power company entirely, but we aren't their yet.

Shop hard, we had quotes in the $60k range to $26K from a smaller guy before those glorious rebates. It took 2 1/2 days to install the system. How much money can (should) they charge for that amount of time???
Good luck!!

I'm surprised you had enough room in your electrical panel for 5 units. Was their expansion done to the electric panel? Sometimes it just makes sense to put the additional units rather than heads, to avoid all the drilling through studs & joists and snaking lines prone to leak all over the place. However, the major issue I've come across installing Ours was that the units each require dedicated Breakers.