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Re: Heat pump

 

I can't really weigh in on the heat pump issue, but yes you are right that when the temperature is low they just don't work as well.? I am not sure if that would be helped by adding mini-splits, those are basically just heat pumps as well.? They extract heat from the outside and throw it inside (in the summer you can reverse them and make them work as ACs, they extract heat from the inside and throw it outside).? But if there isn't much heat around, they can't extract much.? My sister lives in a Brooklyn row house and they mostly use their mini-split but they do supplement it with gas boilers feeding radiators on the cold days.

Insulation can go a long way - whether it is in the attic crawl space or around windows.? Getting new windows, if yours are not double-paned glass, helps too.? Insulation is cheap, windows are pricey especially as we are in the historic district so the permissible options are more limited.



On Wed, Dec 18, 2019 at 12:02 PM Jessie Dolch <jessie.dolch@...> wrote:
Dear neighbors,

I'm in my third year of paying what I think is truly exorbitant amounts of money to heat about 1800 sq. ft. with a 12-year-old package unit electric heat pump (on my roof!). (The house, alas, does not have gas.) A recent part replacement has resulted in not much difference; according to Pepco, we're still using about 70% more electricity than "comparable homes"--and that's to keep the house at? about only 67 degrees. Four different HVAC companies and five technicians have given me three opinions, mostly some sort of shoulder shrug.

I'm trying to know whether the problem is OUR heat pump (and our uninsulated, drafty old house) or whether the problem is just "heat pump." So I'm wondering whether anyone else has a heat pump and whether it's really expensive to run in the winter. I know heat pumps are not ideal when it's colder than about, say, 40 degrees outside, and I know it's more expensive when it flips into "auxiliary heat," which it does on and off when it's colder than about 40 degrees outside.

I'm debating whether to replace with a newer system, and/or supplement with mini-split units in the the two coldest rooms.

Thanks for listening. Any enlightenment would be appreciated. Feel free to email me directly.

Jessie on 11th St.


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