Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 766 posts

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#131

Post by cyberax »

nostromo wrote: post #114

I have mixed feelings about our heat pump system. Yes, it's efficient. But it breaks about once every other year. Last winter the compressor circuit board malfunctioned and cost $5k to fix. Two years ago it was another issue entirely. All of our savings have been lost to service calls. I'm not super price sensitive, but it's still a pain when the heat goes out in the middle of winter and all the service techs are boo…

> If we ever have to replace it, we're going to have to rip open half of the house to remove the heating lines. It'll be a nightmare.

Why? Assuming you have a split unit, the lines are just copper pipes and will work with any other heatpump.

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#132

Post by jtbayly »

Detrytus wrote: post #121
herpdyderp wrote: post #5

The states listed are: - California - Colorado - Maine - Maryland - Massachusetts - New Jersey - New York - Oregon - Rhode Island

Why would anyone need a heat pump in California, given the climate there? I can understand north-eastern states, but not this. Is it a case of mindlessly jumping on "progressive" bandwagon? EDIT: I actually spent one winter in San Diego, and apartments there don't even have any heating installed (except occasional fireplace in the living room). I know that more to the north it might get worse, but by how much?

You still need heat in California, one way or another, especially further north. What would you suggest as a method of heating in CA?

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#133

Post by czbond »

wtallis wrote: post #107
jazzyjackson wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wait I didn't know I could replace my AC with a heat pump, can I replace my noisy AF condenser that's always grinding and hissing or do heat pumps make the same noises

AC is just a heat pump that doesn't give you the option of running it backwards. There can be good and bad implementations of either.

New to heat pumps. Can I replace sub-components of an existing AC system with a heat pump for benefits of both?

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#134

Post by nsguy »

david422 wrote: post #60

I recently got heat pumps in the hopes that I could phase out my oil furnace. What I can say so far is: The temperature is wildly inconsistent. I don't know if this is a software issue, a hardware issue, or just the way heatpumps work. I've had the installer come back and look at it, I've had the heat pump rep come and look at it too. They basically checked everything and tried to convince me this is normal. With oil…

I'll put in another "not normal". I have a heat pump and the temperature stability seems better than the furnace. It takes longer to change but once it gets there it's very stable. With every AC system it can be a challenge to get different regions to be perfect but that shouldn't be worse with an air pump.

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#135

Post by virtue3 »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #118
demondemidi wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heat pumps need to come with an electric heater because pumps stop working below 30 deg F.

Ground source heat pumps are available that go down significantly lower than 30F. They are more expensive. Though running the electric wires is also very expensive due to their inefficiency. Typical heat pumps are often better suited for warmer climates because of this It also appears that the tech for the more typical air source heat pumps has improved significantly in recent years which makes it more viable for col…

I believe they run a heat conductive fluid through heat exchange coils in the ground. This allows you to pump heat into the ground during winter and extract said heat (not sure how accurate this is) during the winter.

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#136

Post by nostromo »

nostrademons wrote: post #92

These states really need to get their electric rates down if they want to accelerate adoption of electrification technologies. We were planning to fully electrify our house + transportation in the next few years. PG&E rate hikes and net metering policies put the damper on that. It's now more expensive to fuel a vehicle with electricity than gas, so I'm charging my PHEV at work and using gas for the rest. We have sola…

> These states really need to get their electric rates down if they want to accelerate adoption of electrification technologies.

I wish. Instead they'll just do what they're doing in my home city, Seattle: ban gas furnaces and other forms of heating entirely while raising electric rates even further. The masses will cry that you have to be rich to live here, and they'll respond to that by raising taxes and spending the raised funds on consultants and bureaucrats studying electric utility inequities. I wish I was making this up.

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#137

Post by tomohawk »

nostrademons wrote: post #92

These states really need to get their electric rates down if they want to accelerate adoption of electrification technologies. We were planning to fully electrify our house + transportation in the next few years. PG&E rate hikes and net metering policies put the damper on that. It's now more expensive to fuel a vehicle with electricity than gas, so I'm charging my PHEV at work and using gas for the rest. We have sola…

Just looking at my street, which is not old infrastructure, they would have to replace all the electric lines, all the transformers, and all the panels in all of the houses if everyone here decided to have EVs. If everyone went to 100% electric heat, it would be even worse.

We have dual fuel heating (heat pump, oil burner). It's prohibitively expensive to run the heat pump below 32F (0C), but the oil works great then, and is way cheaper. Just like the heat pump is cheaper at warmer temps. The heat pump won't work at all at 0F (-18C), so it's a non-starter to only use air based heat pumps for all of our needs. We've tried to get quotes for geothermal, but we'll just have to wait for the next big recession to do that.

As an engineer, I just have to shake my head at the unrealistic timelines being pushed by politicians. All that does is increase cost and drama.

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#138

Post by case »

yellow_postit wrote: post #102

moved from oil furnace to heat pump in Seattle (with electric strip backup) Seems like a perfect fit for our weather patterns but was definitely not the most economical option as it kicked off a domino effect of upgrades I wasn't missing before. Its no where near as "cozy" as the oil heat was, and the temperature of airing coming from the vents is significantly lower than the oil system. So the domino of upgrades is…

I'm going through this process currently (getting estimates from local HVAC contractors, SF Bay Area), and their general guidance so far is to get a Hybrid electric + gas heat pump config.

The electric heat pump alone isn't sufficient compared with gas, and the "add-on" you get to add more heat to the heating output is like a space heater, thus very expensive month to month.

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#139

Post by danans »

mypalmike wrote: post #104
moribvndvs wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve had one for three years. While I generally love it, it cools too fast, which means it sucks at removing humidity, actually increases it a little. The installer over-provisioned.

Would a central dehumidifier help solve that?

Yes. In some very humid climates like the Southeast US, a central dehumidifier might be necessary (although they are not yet common in those climates). But in northern climates which tend to be drier, a right-sized AC or heat pump is all you need.

Re: Nine US states are teaming up to accelerate the adoption of heat pumps

#140

Post by gertlex »

TheBlight wrote: post #94
huytersd wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re somewhat rural the contractors just don’t have the experience to do it so they try to quote you out of the decision. I had to shop around until I found a contractor that had done this before and I was able to get a whole home heat pump for about the same price as a regular furnace/AC system (because of the rebates).

How well do they function? Do they provide nice consistent heat? How's the noise? Sorry to clog up HN with a random request of a product quality review but I'm in the market right now to replace my furnace as well. Thanks.

One anecdote I've seen is that the right way to run them is to maintain a near-steady-state temperature in the house, including overnight. I'm not sure if that's maybe a bit extreme and just how they suggest use to non-savvy home-owners, but it makes sense... They're not going to blast out heat to raise the house temperature 10 degrees in an hour in the morning. Spreading heat-increase over several hours is more feasible. Good insulation presumably helps a bunch, too.

For a similar reason, heat pump water heaters tend to have a larger storage tank, as they take longer to heat the water and you want more of a usage buffer.

Post reply on HN