Posted on 01/24/2023 7:30:49 AM PST by DUMBGRUNT
He's got heat meters fixed to the pipework. Room temperature monitors. And gadgets tracking how much electricity his solar panels are generating.
The jewel in the crown of this system, though, is a recently installed heat pump.
"It's like a geek's paradise, really," says Mick Wall of his 1930s semi-detached house in Sheffield.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Heat pumps began for home use in the mid 60s, but being promoted as energy efficient home HVAC systems in the mid 70’s...........
bump
We put in a Water Furnace geo-thermal system with four 200 foot deep wells sending ground-heated water to the house.
It works well !
—”Not very useful in NH.”
Once upon a time that was a true statement.
Those days are gone.
If you live in a tarpaper shack; stay with coal.
If it is a 1950s house with minimal insulation and old windows, gas heat will work.
With a well-insulated house, and you tend to in the propeller head direction; do a MANUAL J calculation.
And take a close look at the total cost of your energy sources and remember to factor in the COP.
Depending on energy costs and the COP of your selected unit. a hybrid system such as I run can be cheaper
—”That place never went above 66F”
66F with my radiant floor here in northern Illinois is living large!
66F forced air is noticeably less comfortable.
Different types of heating have different effects on the users. Humidity too!
My 1947 vintage rental now has a 95% efficient natural gas forced air heater. Original windows were double hung would frames and single pane glass. Replaced with double hung vinyl frames and low E glass. A big savings in heating costs. No air conditioner at the rental. It had a evaporative cooling unit when we purchased it. Still functional. That house is 2000 sq ft.
Must be a fusion heat pump.
I had to replace my entire 1984 installed Heat Pump and HVAC system 3 years ago. I went with the Lennox top of the line system. Even during this last month and half artic freezing weather we had, I had my system at 64.
I went through Costco and got $3,000 rebate + 2% cash back on my executive card, plus the rebates from my power company.
I think the thing that made the biggest difference was the company sealed up my duct work. When they tested it, it had enough leaks in it that were equivalent to a 300 square inch hole.
I also signed up for lifetime system maintenance every 6 months. Just need to buy my filters, which I do, at less than 1/2 the price from my service provider.
—”A heat pump is just an air conditioner with a flow reverse valve. Their air conditioning cost is the same as an ordinary air conditioner. Their cost to heat a home is efficient within a certain range, but more costly than other methods outside of that range.”
All true!
That said My AC costs were less than half of the old ducted system.
Most days just the blower on my ducted system used the same 750 watts as the complete HP system, with outside air temp less than 90.
Also with multiple head units, I can shut down unused areas.
And all of the downstairs at night.
Even with Jevons Paradox and my wife at the thermostat, less than half the total OLD AC costs.
A well-installed heat pump might get three kilowatt hours (kWh) of heat for each kWh of electricity it consumes.
Must be a fusion heat pump.
What they DO NOT state is the cost per unit. They NEVER look at the whole SYSTEM.
If they're getting 3Kwh energy for every 1Kwh energy they put in they have a free energy device.
I may be looking at this wrong and can learn, so 'splain it to me, please. (No sarc intended)
“That place never went above 66F that winter”
My former home’s heat pump had electric elements that turned on if the actual room temperature fell more than two degrees below the desired temperature setting on the thermostat.
We had a heat pump in southern Indiana and it was costly as hell for heat. Never again.
If they’re getting 3Kwh energy for every 1Kwh energy they put in they have a free energy device.
I may be looking at this wrong and can learn, so ‘splain it to me, please. (No sarc intended)
But again, optimum in a lab is not true situation. They are selling one point of a system, not the whole system.
—”That’s me to a tee !!”
YES!!!
A friend was poking fun at my propensity to monitor my HVAC and I told him, “I don’t watch much TV, but can fuss over my system for days”
Now I need to look around for approximating the COP of my heat pump in real-time.
I have the temp sensors and electric meter on the HP.
Now looking for an easy-to-measure way to log the airflow.
I have a hot wire and mechanical anemometers, but the airflow is continuously variable. Guessing I could look at the power draw of the head units? but
I would like to log it and send it to a spreadsheet as CSV.
Now looking for ideas.
I’m thinking of doing something similar with my pool in AZ for cooling in the summer.
—””My 1984 vintage house was built with a heat pump. “
An ancient heat pump in Idaho!!!!
Kind of like ice boxes to Eskimos.
Even if the house is super insulated to the max the old units switched to electric resistance heat around 30 F.
Yes like the wires inside a toaster!
A friend with electric baseboard heat slipped an extension cord for his block heater out the window, just a small crack...
He ended up with a mini snow drift on top of the heater!!!
IMO and recent experience without very good insulation a heat pump may not do the job.
And I have doubts about some high-efficiency furnaces.
They do NOT blow 140 F HOT air like the old equipment. they continuously blow around 100 F, and not very hard.
More efficient than the hot but on and off old systems.
My one-hundred-year-old house with lots of added insulation and new windows can kind of work until about 0 F with the HP.
Here in northern Illinois we typically have 4 subzero days each year so it can work.
For the subzero days, my gas boiler runs lag to the HP and heats the floors.
I won’t use the cloud so my tstats are classic !
I still use 7 of the Proliphix nt series. No wifi, but hard wire ethernet. Not online, just on-my lan.
With two remote sensor inputs not only can that stat monitor its temp, but the air handler space after the blower and any heat strip. It can monitor another room (like bedroom) where at night I want to satisfy that are in my ‘goal’ setting. They also have relative humidity sensors. Last time I bought a lot of them — 20 for $300 (original price in 2008 was $375 each) Everyone still working. Powers off the hvac 24vac connection. There is code you can run in python out there, or write me back. My lot came from a Calif school that was upgrading to wifi ones about 5 years ago.
And yes I have in different locales, 7 hvac systems.
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