Electric only cabin, heat pump vs electric furnace

7 years ago

I have a cabin in the mountains that is being remodeled this summer, 2 level with lofted celing, 1800 sq feet, 700 sq below grade. Going to do blown closed cell insulation, new windows and new heat source with duct work. It is electric only so I have a choice between an air source heat pump with electric strip back up for the winter or an electric furnace. It is cold with average low 15/high 25 degrees for 5 months a year with about 6500 heating degree days. I don't need the cooling part of the heat pump. My contractor is pushing me toward a Lennox heat pump elite xp20, he says it's got a better quality of heat vs electric furnace.

My my questions are:

1. Does the added initial cost of the heat pump make sense? Most of the winter I would I would be using the back up electric heat anyway right?

2. Can you really tell the "quality" of heat from one source vs another

3. If we turn the heat down during the week and have a nest thermostat to turn the heat up before we get there, will both be able to warm the cabin in 3-4 hours?

thanks for any advice you have

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Comments (5)

Bruce in Northern Virginia
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Is there any option to use a dual fuel heat pump that has propane as the backup heat source? With those temperatures you may be in backup heat quite a bit of the time, and propane might be less expensive than all electric heat strips. If propane was be cheaper during those cold times, the heat pump would still give you efficiency during more moderate temps. However, it depends on your location and the comparative cost of propane vs. electric.

I have also read that there are newer types of heat pumps that work down to much lower temperatures, so backup heat would not come on very often. Another option is to use a pellet stove for supplemental heat, but that would not run unattended if you left the cabin for an extended period.

Bruce
fsq4cw
7 years ago
The Lennox HP being proposed
will work very well at those temperatures. A lot depends on how much you’re
willing to spend, what you’d like to achieve and of course your energy rates.

You have many options beyond what’s already being proposed. Here are just
some examples to explore. If you are planning to drill a well for your drinking
water or already have one, this well might also be used as a source for a geothermal
HP that can be used for force air heating, in-floor radiant heating, both and
air-conditioning. Propane can be used with such a system for both backup
heating and to power a generator if you have power outages that are either
often, sustained or both.

A lake or pond might also be
used as a source with a geothermal HP that would involve no drilling. If the
property is big enough and ground conditions conducive, a horizontal ground
loop might also be an option that would involve no drilling.

With what is now being
proposed, how would you keep your house warm and pipes from freezing if there were
a sustained loss of power from the grid?

What is your electrical rate
per kW?

IMPO

SR
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sktn77a
7 years ago
Get the heat pump - you don't want to be using resistance electric heat under those conditions.
capedude
7 years ago
If you don't want cooling, then you are getting pushed to spend a lot of money for the cooling portion of the heat pump that you will never use. SP20 is a very high end unit targeted towards big savings for high cooling use. It sounds like your contractor is trying to dump the most expensive thing they can on you.

The electric furnace (traditional ducted air handler style) market is tiny. Your contractor has likely never even installed one. The comment about heat "quality" makes no sense. Your best bet, if possible, is to use a natural gas or propane furnace. If you can't get gas where you are then it sounds like electric strip or better yet floor or ceiling electric radiant would be the next best option.
klem1
7 years ago
I agree 100% with capedude and here's additional reasons to use resistant heat. Eventhough heat pump uses less energy when outdoor tempature permits,the savings isn't great since you are only there a small persentage of the time. Since cabin is only maintained at cool tempature while you are absent heat runs very little. Heat pumps can be severly handicaped or even disabled by snow and freezing rain. If and when it break's down,resistant heat is the simplest system in the world to trouble shoot and least expensive to repair or replace. The average Joe with a little knowledge about volt meters can fix resistant heat but very few diyers know where to begain with heat pumps. You can buy a volt meter for less than $25 in the smallest of towns on a weekend. Refergeration tools are expensive and anywhere they are sold will usually refuse selling to diyers. I believe most experienced hvac people here that can repair any system will agree they would 10 to 1 rather arrive at a remote cabin at 2am and find resistant not working than a heat pump. A well trained tech can often tell freinds or family over the phone how to MacGyver resistant and go on to enjoy their stay but not very often with heat pumps.

Electric only cabin, heat pump vs electric furnace

Comments (5)

Bruce in Northern Virginia

fsq4cw

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sktn77a

capedude

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