[jotato]

Wa heat pump user chiming in.

6 months ago, we bought a house built in 95. Heat pump installed 5 years ago. My impression is "meh"

This is the first month I'm using it for heat, but man we are cold. I have the thermostat set to 69. The upstairs is struggling to maintain 65 and the heat pump is running 14 hours/day (I track it in home assistant)

Weather is L30-H42 this week

I'm nervous to get my bill this month

[toomuchtodo]

What’s your insulation situation? Heating source is irrelevant if the envelope leaks like a sieve (Cheap, plentiful fossil gas has papered over poorly insulated homes historically).

Recommend an energy audit, air sealing, and getting your attic up to at least R-38 (ideally you want to get to R-60) if not already there. Cost should be low four figures depending on what’s already up there (batts, blown fiberglass or cellulose, etc) for a retrofit, and there are typically some combination of utility, local, and state incentives. Get three quotes.

https://www.energystar.gov/campaign/seal_insulate/identify_p...

https://electrek.co/2022/08/19/us-tax-credits-rebates-climat...

[jotato]

I assume it is fine. The attic was reblown when the heat pump was installed. Rooms don't feel drafty.

I would like to do whole house air sealing. I plan on doing as much as I can myself. (Sealing can lights, outlet covers, etc..)

[toomuchtodo]

I recommend confirming. If your heat pump can’t keep up (“The upstairs is struggling to maintain 65 and the heat pump is running 14 hours/day (I track it in home assistant)”), either it’s undersized, your house is leaking conditioned air too quickly, or both. High level, having a heat pump in of itself isn’t the problem. High quality heat pumps (Mitsubishis for example) will happily extract heat from -30F outdoor air.

(I have a 4 ton heat pump and it will get my 2600 sq ft 40 year old house to temp called for in about 15-60 minutes at extreme ambient outdoor temperatures).

[earleybird]

I have an older central forced air heat pump which in the south vancouver island environment runs around a CoP of 3.5 in the shoulder seasons and around a CoP of 2 which is still half what I'd pay for electrical resistive heat (or natural gas).

From todays numbers (with temps around 0 to 4 C, 32 to 40 F) the heat pump is cycling on every half hour or so. When it gets colder (eg. -10 C) it cycles every 20 minutes or so. The thermostat is set at 22 C (~ 72 F) and stays within a degree (C) or so.

Over the past 25 yrs it has certainly paid for itself in reduced electrical costs.