[poutine]

Living in the PNW, I'm building a new house and I've chosen a dual fuel hybrid heat pump system as per https://www.bryantbing.com/products/hybrid-heat/

I'll also have solar + battery. Should be able to run the furnace & fan but not the heat pump (too many kW/h) during a power outage and thus heating with gas. It'll run off the heat pump for 90-95% of the year, only using gas on the coldest days, or during an outage. To go full heat pump for 100% of the year you need to seriously upsize the heat pump(s) and you wouldn't have performance during an outage.

[nemo44x]

Why not install heated floors? That would be my choice in a new build.

[2rsf]

Why? heated floor are a little more efficient in heating and for some are a little more comfortable, but from my experience they are also slow to react so it's harder to control the temperature when the weather changes daily for example in the spring or automn.

[nemo44x]

They’re much more efficient (and comfortable imo) than other systems. You’ll see pretty big costs savings. But yes, you need to be in a climate that sees long, cold winters to get the best of them I guess. Or if your home has lots of tile/stone/concrete flooring.

You’re right though, they take awhile to heat up and if you’re in a place where you may need heat at night and AC in the day, they won’t be ideal.

[2rsf]

Pretty big costs savings compared to what? if you compare radiators to floor heating, both connected to the same heat pump system than the savings are not significant

[nemo44x]

It's because of efficiency. The entire floor becomes a radiant source - this is a massive thermal source. A heat-pump is only part of the equation. You need to deliver the heat still. A radiator is generally a bad way to deliver heat from a heat pump. Radiated floors are much better. About 40% more efficient than radiators from the same heat pump.

Not to mention radiators are sort of lousy ways to heat a room anyways. They take up space and leave one side too hot and the other too cold.

[poutine]

It's expensive and it doesn't cool. Also doesn't circulate the air. I have some fancy filters and humidifiers as part of the system I'm putting in.

[nemo44x]

It will certainly cost more, especially since you can’t share the venting and blower. But I’d get it quoted to compare. Electric systems have really come down in price per SqFt. Now your climate doesn’t get month after month of freezing temperatures so maybe it won’t be as dramatic but the energy cost savings can be huge. Plus the overall experience of it is the best imo.

You could still circulate air with the blower running in fan mode and you may not need humidifiers as that’s the biggest negative to forced air heat imo.

Curious which humidifier systems you’re looking at?

[poutine]

I got it quoted. Basically would be around $50k CAN for heated floors (it's a big house). Ducted mini split heat pump (2 units to handle the house size) was $60k. Central hybrid gas-heat pump was $30k.

I put in heated electric floors in the bathrooms (about $1k each).

Byrant has a humidifier (https://www.bryant.com/en/us/products/humidifiers/) that integrates with the system. It also has integral HRV. As well as an air purifier: https://www.bryant.com/en/us/products/air-purifiers/dgapa/

It's not a bad compromise for our climate. Currently living in a home I designed that has mini splits everywhere and I really dont like them. Not enough air circulation and it's really hard to balance given a well insulated house on mildly cool days which is very common here.

I intend to always keep the fan going to circulate the air in order to clean (we have allergies) and humidify.

[nemo44x]

> I put in heated electric floors in the bathrooms (about $1k each).

Smart man.

> Currently living in a home I designed that has mini splits everywhere and I really dont like them.

I have a similar opinion. They're fine in a 1-off room that is isolated but I don't like them much otherwise. They don't look good at all.

[pinot]

Can't heat with gas without electricity, unless you have a genset or power wall kind of thing to provide epower.

[nerdbert]

Until a couple years ago we had a gas-fired tankless water heater which used a single D-cell battery for ignition, which had to be changed once every year or two. It wasn't connected to wall power at all.

[hinkley]

But you need a blower or pump in order to circulate heat in a house. Hot water is better than nothing but it won't keep your fish from freezing.

[alvah]

There are, or used to be, Bosch tankless water heaters which used a small turbine connected to a piezo-electric igniter, no external power source required ever.

[poutine]

I have a sol-ark 12k which allows for grid isolation and a bunch of batteries.