Heat Pump running continually vs. using the back up heat
michele85
14 years ago
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Comments (23)
brothersheating
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Up front costs of Geothermal heat pump vs. other heating methods
Comments (79)It boggles my mind that people think 10 years is a long time. After installation, you pay each month (including financing) about what you were already paying anyway (probably less). You do it for 10 years, (especially with all the new government incentives, rebates, and low-interest financing now available) and after 10 years you're paying a ridiculously paltry amount for heat. Of course it makes sense. Think of the payback over 20 years once that loan is paid off! Even if you only end up paying even 1/2 of the normal cost over that period (including the cost of your system and electric), you're still saving substantially. I know not everyone lives in a home for that long, but seeing low energy bills does increase home values. I've seen homes sold almost immediately with their main advertising point being their geothermal system even in our horrible present climate while others still linger on the market. Not only that, but why not decrease your monthly bills slightly (before the loan is paid off)? Slightly lower bills, a higher sales price which will pay off the rest of that loan - still makes sense. We had someone come out to our house and they specifically calculated everything from current estimated heating costs, heating/cooling with geo, then savings/payback period. This was a full service option, including thermostats, etc. Finding that should not be difficult. One argument I saw above made no sense. If it really is worth insulating your home to use a normal system, it is a no-brainer to insulate your home using geo. Whether you decide to use geo or not, you can't say, "Well, normal is better, because we insulated, too." That makes no sense. Insulate either way. Then compare. The financial analysis does not make much sense, either. Yes, it would be wonderful if we could just stop paying the oil company, live without heat, and invest that money! Realistically, while you could want to put away the whole $25,000, you really are still using it for heat either way over those 14 years as projected. Geo, with the loan, electric, etc, will cost about the same each month as heat before the loan is paid off, so you can't just pretend that money could be invested elsewhere. Use it upfront with geo, use it over several years with oil, it makes no difference. That money is being spent on heat. Should it be spent on something worthwhile, or just, at the end of 10 years, have you still spending the same amount on more heat with oil? Geo will typically initially cost you a little less (including the loan and electricity) per month than you would be paying otherwise, then suddenly drop dramatically to only the cost of using the system as soon as that loan is paid off. That's money you would have spent anyway each month with your normal system (even though some of it went to financing, it is still less that what you would have paid for oil). Then suddenly, once the loan is gone, you actually DO have perhaps $1,000 a year in money saved that you can invest if you wish over 10 years. If, with financing costs, it does cost more per month than your normal heating system, that's one thing; but if not, the argument that it is wasting money is not valid. You're spending it anyway. Might as well spend it on something that will, in the future, save you tons of money. (Not just a little, a lot.)...See MoreFollow up to advice needed from pros re replacing heat pump
Comments (1)So your original thread for my response....See MoreOil heat vs heat pump in Philly suburbs
Comments (13)The heatpump has 02 date on it, so it's 8yr old or less. when I flip the switch on and off the fan in heatpump doesn't always work. I tried like 6 times and it turned on by itself only once or twice. Also, I noticed that the circuit breaker (inside the house) makes a noise every time the fan is trying to start. Is that normal for circuit breaker to make this noise? The lights in the house flicker when it makes this noise, but once I start it up with the stick everything is back to normal. I had an oil service rep over at my place and he said it's normal for lights to flicker, but at that time I didn't know that the fan doesn't work. now I wonder if it really is normal. Another strange thing - it 70 inside and 70 outside, but when I tried to bring the room temperature to 68 the air coming out from the ducts wasn't cold enough, not nearly as cold as it was in the summer.I ran AC (with fan running) for about 45 min, but it's not the ice cold air that I was getting in the summer . Thanks...See MoreGas heat vs. heat pump in NE
Comments (7)Hi, We're just outside of Boston too, and we put in a pool last year. We do not have access to gas, so we put in an electric heat pump. Pros : 1: It really works! It is like a reverse air conditioner. However, the pool water will cool down overnight, or you could run it overnight. We did not run it overnight at all this cold summer. I set it for 80 and it ran a lot in the May, June, August and September, but... 2: I was surprised that our electric bills were not as high as I thought they would be. 3. You don't have to deal with a propane company, or extra plumbing charges to hook it up to your main gas line. Cons: 1: It is big! But we have a good landscaper who did a nice job with disguising the pool equipment. 2: We found that many pool service companies are extremely loyal to gas in New England and claim to know nothing about these types of pool heaters. Since the warranty is only one year, we might be stuck trying to find someone to service it, if we have problems. I think the heat pumps are way more popular in other regions of the country. Overall we're happy with it....See Moremaryland_irisman
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