Yankees60,I had initially ruled out a mini-split for my house, thinking that they'd be electricity monsters.Parts of Texas, the hot and humid parts, are almost perfect for heat pumps. And they can handle the usual winter cold that you experience there.Natural gas is cheaper and heat up the house faster. But really.. just wear layers. Not really that difficult.I am not savvy here with home heating technology: I have a regular gas heater with a tank in my attic in Texas. Are heat pumps a thing in Texas and what is the main difference? Also ain’t gas heater utility bills lower than electric heaters (most of the time)? Thanks.
"Regular gas heater with a tank" - ie hot water heater? That's not your home heating system w outside of US NE and some of Midwest, is almost always (is always?) a forced air system.
We are talking Air Source Heat Pumps not geothermal. Used for home heating and cooling. Effectively an air conditioner, but in winter it runs in reverse (cooling the outside, and heating the inside). If outside temperatures get too low (these days near 0 F) then it basically switches to electric bar. But in normal use, at least 3x more efficient per unit of energy than a gas furnace. Conversely, your natural gas may be more than 3x cheaper than your electricity. So it's not usually economic to replace early, but to consider when your furnace needs replacement.
There are heat pump water heaters. Compared to ordinary electric ones they are 2-3x more efficient, but probably don't beat gas water heaters (newer ones, with good efficiency).
I had regularly been using space heaters in this bedroom for supplemental heat. On high they can consume 1,500 watts, which puts their running costs at that level at about 45 cents per hour.
I was shocked to find out that the much bigger indoor mini-split unit paired with a large outdoor unit consumed only 400 watts.
Valuethinker can explain to us why.
Once I did that I had a 6,000 BTU installed in each bedroom and an 18,000 BTU one installed in the living room to cover rest of house.
Massachusetts offers tremendous rebates if you go Whole House with them, which means them replacing your current oil / gas furnace.
I went live with them on 12/30/22, turned off my oil furnace, and it's been off since.
I bought them strictly for heating use and have never used them for air conditioning but if I go solar I will most likely also use them for air conditioning. Maybe!
Do the splits heat the house evenly? I’ve wondered with one in each room how well the heat is distributed in hallways and foyer and bathroom space, etc? In my house 1500sq.ft. main floor I’d have one for the BR, one for the LR. Kitchen and Bathroom? Entry? Laundry room? I’m not sure but maybe it would work for some homes with fewer discrete spaces. I can see some issues there.
Statistics: Posted by hvaclorax — Fri Oct 04, 2024 10:23 pm — Replies 67 — Views 7869