Heating Question

Dave_4

hay guys i put a lot of work into my house but due to my brothers health he needs me to live with him and i will be renting out part of my house to a friend of mine who is a police officer he will like the system i have here for him all buderus outdoor indoor reset and a new 2ton 14 seer central air lucky dude but he may as well put it to good use for me wile I'm away for the next 2 years.

anyway my brother just got the new apartment and it has a heat pump and central air all in one unit. :-( i wanted to get your opinion on them and how well they work in the winter heat mode?

i was going to bring up my own t-stat so i can simulate a constant temperature. so it will call for heat every 1/2 a deg or less if i want with a swing adjustment feature.

both his cooling and heating bill are free with the place so i want it comfortable for us i here that in the winter they can ice up should i bring some electric heaters just
in case or do they work well?

thanks

Brad White_33

Heat Pumps

Jason, Hi
First of all, sorry about your brother's health. Not the best reason to make a move but I know you are doing the right thing. My best wishes to him....

Having a cop do your house sitting is good for the neighborhood and your peace of mind by the way-

In answer to your question how well a heat pump works, I take it you mean air-source with an outside condensing unit.

The answer depends on where you live, where the unit is installed. All air source heat pumps have a balance point, the outside temperature where the heating load and the heating capacity meet. Naturally this varies with how tight the house is, how well insulated and the outdoor temperature at the time. Generally heat pumps work very well from Maryland southward and in areas below 4000 degree days, but this is not absolute. Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia and Westward from there are prime territory for heat pumps in my experience.

47 degrees is a typical (ARI) rating point for heat pumps in the heating mode. Manufacturers use that as a standard so they all look equally good.

Most heat pumps of my experience have a balance point in the high 30's to low 40's. 37 is a typical number. Below that point, some form of supplemental heat needs to be added, either electric resistance, gas, propane or less often, oil. They typically do not work much at all below freezing, maybe down to the 26-27 degree range. Below that you are likely all on auxilliary heat anyway. But then most winter hours are above that here in Boston.

Even here the operating cost based on the COP allows heating in the shoulder seasons for modest cost, sometimes less than propane or gas. Takes the edge off at least. Remember that in heating mode you are cooling the outdoors and using the indoor "evaporator" as the condenser. So you can see how this gets tougher as it gets colder out.

Hope this helps,

Brad

RoosterBoy

brad thanks so much for the kind words and for teaching me about heat pumps boy i hope it wont be a problem the apartment building is a huge high rise in a very cold climate and was told each apartment had what the guy called it's own thermal unit and each had there own t-stat so i automatically thought he meant heat pump if this is the case i will be in a cold apartment ill have to check again.
but maybe each apartment has it's own ac unit and the air handler has a a-coil for cooling and electric coil for heating. i just don't get why a nice building like that would give each apartment a heat pump in a cold climate ill have to check into it

thanks brad

Jason

Brad White_33

Jason

Good morning. You are entirely welcome. I suspect you are right in that each apartment has its own electric coil. Most do and it allows if desired, billing to the tenant via their meter.. You are also right in that it may not BE a heat pump, just AC and electric heat. For the cost of a heat pump versus AC, you would think that they would put in a heat pump.

May be that the apartment was built originally before heat pumps were fashionable, the finishes and space for them are hard block so there is a limitation on replacement unit size, just a guess..

I do specify heat pumps routinely in this climate (Massachusetts) for the stated reasons of shoulder season benefit. Nice to come in on a rainy 48 degree day and dry off nicely....

Best of luck in your move. Your brother is lucky to have you for a brother..

Best,
Brad