301–310 of 494 posts
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Depends on your frame of reference but in Melbourne it can get to around 1 degree Celcius in winter (33~F). Sometimes subzero but very rarely
In upstate NY it gets a lot colder than that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracuse,_New_York#/media/File... the average temperature is below freezing for four months.
People in the UK are talking about the risk of heat pump installations being in the tens of thousands & not possible everywhere. This is mostly from anti-green MPs. Anyone know what the facts are there?
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Mitsubishi Electric or Mitsubishi Heavy Industries? I sourced opinions far and wide and in the end it seemed to be a coin toss between Mitsubishi Electric and Daikin. A lot of it comes done to parts availability, and both seem very strong in Australia.
I live in a cold climate
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Can't heat with gas without electricity, unless you have a genset or power wall kind of thing to provide epower.
Until a couple years ago we had a gas-fired tankless water heater which used a single D-cell battery for ignition, which had to be changed once every year or two. It wasn't connected to wall power at all.
In a house I own in Melbourne, Australia, I just replaced an old gas central heating system with 3 new top of the line Daikin mini split heat pumps. The new units can heat the entire house for the same amount of electrical energy that was used to run the FAN in the old gas unit. They are crazy efficient. Ducts are dead. The Daikin Alira X is the gold-plated option and cost $8k AUD for 2x2.5kw and 1x7.1kw units includ…
They're pretty quiet, too. You can certainly hear the air coming out, but it's fairly quiet and certainly wouldn't be noisy enough to bother you over tv, work, or anything else.
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Because it smells bad inside? Because fresh air feels good? Not to be snarky, but how did you miss these use cases?
If it's pretty cold outside, then you're throwing all of the ostensible energy savings of a heat pump out the window the minute you open it to air out the house. Following the thread of conversation, it just didn't compute to me: >>>> Heat pumps are great for climate control >>> Yeah, ducts are dead >> What if you want to recirculate air in your house through your central air filter to eliminate smells? > Just open t…
Ducts running in an insulated space are sources of huge energy loss.
In a house I own in Melbourne, Australia, I just replaced an old gas central heating system with 3 new top of the line Daikin mini split heat pumps. The new units can heat the entire house for the same amount of electrical energy that was used to run the FAN in the old gas unit. They are crazy efficient. Ducts are dead. The Daikin Alira X is the gold-plated option and cost $8k AUD for 2x2.5kw and 1x7.1kw units includ…
Are you asking why the Daikin Alira X is more expensive in the US? It's because it's not a brand that is normally found here. If you went with a common US brand you can get a good system with 4 units and a 36,000 BTU heat pump unit for around $6,500 USD installed. I don't love the wall units - they're pretty ugly, even the new ones. If you're getting a mini-split, the in-ceiling or wall cassettes that are hidden are…
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I don't think the hardware is that expensive in the US, it's the installation (which costs more than the hardware). And mistakes by installers will cost even more. Our installers didn't flare a line set connection properly and it leaked slowly and that was a very expensive bill (especially since refrigerants have changed so much). Our Daikin indoor units have also had condensate leaking issues, probably due to poor i…
I love our Daikin mini-splits (came with the house), but as you allude to I've had to become an mini expert on deep cleaning them. They've can get GROSS with mold when used for cooling, and the cursory filter only does so much. That being said, now they stay clean for a few years after a deep cleaning -- though my first few attempt before I refined the process did not stay clean nearly as long. (Proper water pressure…
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Because it smells bad inside? Because fresh air feels good? Not to be snarky, but how did you miss these use cases?
If it's pretty cold outside, then you're throwing all of the ostensible energy savings of a heat pump out the window the minute you open it to air out the house. Following the thread of conversation, it just didn't compute to me: >>>> Heat pumps are great for climate control >>> Yeah, ducts are dead >> What if you want to recirculate air in your house through your central air filter to eliminate smells? > Just open t…
We've just today had our first snow of the season here in a lower elevation of the Sierra Foothills. It's been chilly for 3 months or so, and our heating is an 'old school' ducted propane furnace. In time, we'll replace it with a heat pump, but not this year. Anyway, we're sensitive to accumulated odors that go with a well insulated, closed-up home in winter.
Every evening, we open three doors in the house to the outside. This is after the furnace has entered its timed 'off for the night' state. We exchange pretty much all of our air for fresh ambient, which is great when we wake up in the morning.
The impact from doing this on our propane bill is undetectable. This is because air, even humid air, has a trivial heat capacity compared to the warm house structure and contents. Those are by far the greatest energy reservoir in our home. Very little energy is lost in a daily air exchange with the ambient.
*edited for typo
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I feel a combination with a wood burning stove is best. Especially with the potential for power cuts.
Wood pellet stoves are very efficient and semi-automated. Pellets can be cheaper than split logs (if you have to buy them).