What a clickbaity, poorly written and sensational article.
Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
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Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#12The only thing that's holding me back in electrifying more of my life is my jurisdiction's track record in long-term planning for grid and supply capacity. If I switch water heating, home heating and transportation to electricity, and they fuck up again, that'll affect me way more when rates start rising or shortages begin. I'd rather they work out the kinks without me and be a late adopter. For example, I will not be among the first 50% of drivers to switch to fully electric. Being a one-car household I believe we've already done more for the environment than 2 car EV households simply by taking one vehicle off the roads.
Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#13> Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. Uh, you still need a furnace (though it could be electric) if you live somewhere that ever really gets cold, right? [edit] I mean, seeing it presented as a furnace replacement is weird to me. I’ve always seen it sold as an air conditioner replacement that also happens to heat (with weird characteristics that often confuse people—…
Yes. I live in Utah and have a heat pump and gas furnace. I am told the heat pump is really efficient at medium-cold temperatures, but not so much on really cold days.
I believe heatpump technology has improved over time. Also, "less efficient but still functional" is an adequate option for really cold days.
Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#14>“It’s a really strong signal from states that they’re committed to accelerating this transition to zero-emissions residential buildings,”
Heat pumps are zero-emissions now. Shipping them and replacing your gas furnace also emits no carbon.
Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#15> Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. Uh, you still need a furnace (though it could be electric) if you live somewhere that ever really gets cold, right? [edit] I mean, seeing it presented as a furnace replacement is weird to me. I’ve always seen it sold as an air conditioner replacement that also happens to heat (with weird characteristics that often confuse people—…
I have a pair of heat pumps in a dual zone setup, each of them has a backup electric furnace as part of its indoor air handler. Newer ones can keep running without that even into quite cold areas.
The thermostat just sees the resistive heaters as another phase, so I have three phases, and if it doesn't see a temp rise within a certain time of calling for phase 1/2, then it goes to phase 3. Mine also has support for an external temperature probe, that can skip 1/2 if it is already too cold.
I also have other ways to make heat if I have a prolonged electrical outage, but outside of maintenance, I've not used that.
Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#16> Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. Uh, you still need a furnace (though it could be electric) if you live somewhere that ever really gets cold, right? [edit] I mean, seeing it presented as a furnace replacement is weird to me. I’ve always seen it sold as an air conditioner replacement that also happens to heat (with weird characteristics that often confuse people—…
Heatpumps have resistance heating backup for the exceptional periods when it is too cold to make use of the compression system. Most people live somewhere a heatpump would work well.
Oh, I’ve not see that kind, only the sort where the “e heat” feature on the thermostat is tied to a separate furnace.
Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#17> Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. Uh, you still need a furnace (though it could be electric) if you live somewhere that ever really gets cold, right? [edit] I mean, seeing it presented as a furnace replacement is weird to me. I’ve always seen it sold as an air conditioner replacement that also happens to heat (with weird characteristics that often confuse people—…
What's really cold? There are heat pumps that are advertised as working at -15F. On the days when it gets that cold, your heat pump will need to switch to electric heat. So on those days, your heat pump is no better than an electric furnace. On all other days that the heater is running, the heat pump is a far more efficient option.
Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#18Heat pumps look great and definitely planning on getting one (or many) when my hvac system needs replacing, as well as a heat pump water heater. In NorCal I think they are a no-brainer since it doesn't get that cold to begin with, though I am unsure of what options exist to replace a central AC/furnace system, or if it is better to get several smaller ones throughout your house. Though I have to laugh since it was only a few years ago there were news articles decrying air conditioning as a climate disaster are now claiming heat pumps are a climate savior...
Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#19> Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. Uh, you still need a furnace (though it could be electric) if you live somewhere that ever really gets cold, right? [edit] I mean, seeing it presented as a furnace replacement is weird to me. I’ve always seen it sold as an air conditioner replacement that also happens to heat (with weird characteristics that often confuse people—…
The best mental model for a heat pump is that they can maintain a certain temperature differential, say 80F. If it gets to be 0F outside and you want it to be 70? You don’t need to switch to a fully separate heating system, you just need to warm up either the incoming or outgoing air an additional 10 degrees via a small resistance heater. The super wide range heat pump systems will do that automatically, and the prin…
The wide range ones are basically two heat pumps back to back using different working fluids. They should only be used in applications where they are really required as there are obviously impacts to the COP.
Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps
#20> Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. Uh, you still need a furnace (though it could be electric) if you live somewhere that ever really gets cold, right? [edit] I mean, seeing it presented as a furnace replacement is weird to me. I’ve always seen it sold as an air conditioner replacement that also happens to heat (with weird characteristics that often confuse people—…
From my limited experience, I'd say yes - you still need a furnace.
I converted my garage into my office by adding a mini split AC/heat pump. The garage walls, door, and attic are insulated - but it's still a garage, which means that it's not nearly as well insulated as a regular room in a house.
The unit is 18k BTUs, which is quite oversized for the size of the garage. I made this choice because the heat pump BTUs are significantly less than cooling BTUs. This is definitely obvious, experientally - the unit can make my garage uncomfortably cold even in the peak of summer.
But even though this unit is supposedly rated for operation in temps down to about -20F, when winter gets really cold, it struggles to keep the space warm. Once the temps are below about 20F or so, I usually add a space heater to the mix, which, combined with warm clothes, makes working out here at least tolerable.