31–40 of 95 posts
> I do not fault the particular pump that we bought or our installers who were careful and professional. Apparently, however, we lack good rules of thumb to predict how a pump will perform in a particular installation. A 278% estimation turning out as 150% real world performance, certainly was not done very carefully.
Why do you think the manufacturers mislabeled efficiency has any relevance to how the installation team performed?
If I were building new in the north, ground-loop heat pumps make more sense, less maintenance, less trying to eek out a temperature difference. You will likely already have the equipment on-site for grading and foundation work. No need to remove material permanently for it…
It seems ridiculous that refrigerator leaks are not "an uncommon occurrence". Does anyone have any insight into why this would be?
[0] https://support.accuvio.com/support/solutions/articles/40000...
[1] https://highperformancehvac.com/heat-pump-leaking-refrigeran...
[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...
It seems ridiculous that refrigerator leaks are not "an uncommon occurrence". Does anyone have any insight into why this would be?
Note that most of these leaks are caused by installation. In the factory they have things they can do for quality control to make such things not an issue, but the refrigerant needs to get from inside each house to the outside and that means custom install which makes quality control harder.
Worse, it is hard to find leaks. Often the pipes are buried in walls and so all the tech can do is put some sealer in and hope that fixes the issue. There is the ability to put some leak detector in the lines, but then you need to spend a lot of labor and still not guarantee.
I don't know what can be done about it, but I know it is a real problem.
I intuited this as well, which is why I stayed with gas heat. These days I'm even wondering if wood heat with a high efficiency furnace makes sense. There are so many dead trees around me. The carbon is going to go back either way. In the case of decomposition, there may be other negative effects of leaving it on the ground compared to burning it. I haven't given much thought to a way to capture the heat in a way tha…
Is that a similar idea to the sand battery in Finland? It was on HN last year.
It seems ridiculous that refrigerator leaks are not "an uncommon occurrence". Does anyone have any insight into why this would be?
Because flare fittings are a concession to make install cheaper, not better. R410a and other similar refrigerants are very high pressure, and the fittings undergo significant thermal cycles. Flared copper tube is a bad design choice. IMO, going back to brazed tubing connections is the most rational choice.
> I do not fault the particular pump that we bought or our installers who were careful and professional. Apparently, however, we lack good rules of thumb to predict how a pump will perform in a particular installation. A 278% estimation turning out as 150% real world performance, certainly was not done very carefully.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> Of course it's extremely important to switch people to electrified heating systems, regardless of their efficiency. You could use a gas fired heat pump. It won't work as an air conditioner, but it won't stress the grid and could even work when the power goes out.
>and could even work when the power goes out. AFAIK gas furnaces still need electricity for the fans to work. When you have no electricity you at best have a glorified fireplace. It's probably going to be a worse than a regular fireplace because it's not designed to output heat to its surroundings.
A heat pump cannot run off a small generator.
Just as in switching to an EV isn't going to make things significantly better, switching your heating to heat pump isn't either:
Some basic tips from a fellow Bay Stater:
1. Any new or replacement mechanicals should be use heat pumps (water heater too)
2. Make sure your house is well-insulated to get the best bang for the buck
3. The grid has the ability to use greener energy as time goes on, and you can also opt in to renewable suppliers (in MA, at least)
4. Add a solar array and with net metering it becomes a no brainer.
If I were building new in the north, ground-loop heat pumps make more sense, less maintenance, less trying to eek out a temperature difference. You will likely already have the equipment on-site for grading and foundation work. No need to remove material permanently for it…
I’d love to hear experiences on ground source installs in suburbs. I’d love to do one but feel like I’d be forced into a vertical well which I’ve always heard is an outrageous cost. I’d love to be wrong.