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How are people with heat pumps faring? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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With the cold weather I was hoping to hear of some experiences people have had with their heat pumps.

What kind of backup heat do you have? Are you using it? Is there some temperature where you just stop using the heat pump, or are you even consciously thinking about it?

Thanks!

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[+] [email protected] -8 points 2 years ago (23 children)

From what I understand, you only use a heat pump until the outside temp reaches 0c, maybe -5c. Below that you go back to using the furnace.

One of the big draws of a heat pump is pumping heat "out" of the house in summer instead of running an air conditioner. If you get a chilly spring night, the heat pump should maintain the house temp without running the furnace. Supposedly it does both of these more economically than running an AC and furnace, but it is not a replacement for a furnace.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

This is outdated. Modern heat pumps are good down to -15 or even -20 and new models are getting more and more efficient every day.

That's not to say folks in Alberta shouldn't maintain a backup furnace of some kind, but today a heat pump should be good for heating and cooling 300+ days a year.

Also:

Supposedly it does both of these more economically than running an AC and furnace

There's nothing "supposed" about it. It's basic physics: moving heat around is far more energy efficient than heating something up directly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Any brand recommendations?

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