Heat Pump

[brandi]

Any suggestions on what type of heat pump to purchase today.Will be replacing a York unit that`s been running since 1978 in the near future.

[Adnshel]

You will do pretty well with any one of them that is the same size and will work dimension wise for your application. There are only 3 manufacturers that I can think of that makes all of the units. I have gone to a supply house and seen them put the stickers on just before they send them out. One was a york sticker and the other was a coleman.

[HAROLD]

IF ITS YOUR HOUSE TRANE HAS SOME GREAT HEAT PUMPS

[thepapabear]

Hope I am not too late on this. I agree that Trane has good heat pumps. There are so many options. If you have been using a HP since 1978 you must be fairly satisfied. Any new HP properly sized and installed should give good service and be much more efficient than your old York. I always liked the York as a dual fuel HP, where a gas furnace is the backup heat. Since gas, either NG or is a more efficient heat sorce than electric; however this may not be a good choice if you do not have NG available and also may not have any type of gas service previously installed. This always ads up-front expense and must be factored in.
I really like a water source heat pump where the heat exchange is done with water either with a closed loop (plastic pipe in the ground or in a nearby pond) or using a running water source such as a well. Your heating cooling professional can usually advise you best, of course he usally wishes to sell you his product, beacuse of his knowledge of the product he sells and profit for him.
A water source HP will usually cost about twice as much to install (beacuse of the materials and labor involved in the loop) but I have seen cases where the power usage is 1/2 of a similar traditional air source HP. One other advantage of the water source HP is the heated air for winter is some 5 to 10 degrees F warmer, thus more comfort.
Two brands I like are Florida Heat Pump and Water Furnace. I prefer the Water Furnace, but both were high quality when I was in the business in the late 80's early 90's. (I was only involved in sales) I am not nor ever will be a service man) jdcarson@mail.com null

[ 07-23-2001: Message edited by: thepapabear ]

[ 07-23-2001: Message edited by: thepapabear ]

[ 07-23-2001: Message edited by: thepapabear ]

[BO-J]

I would personally go with Bryant, Made by carrier. Carrier Makes bryant but carrier is about 250$ to 300$ more Just for the name ans it is gray where bryant is beige. I don't know what size you need, but the 663 model is the 12 seer (highe effeiciency) and the 661 is the 10 seer. Also if you plan on staying there for a while I would go with the puron system. r410a new refrigerant, high presure high effeicentcey abot 13-14 seer deppending on whether or not you hav a TXV valve on your airhandler.. Cost is a little more but Bryant is the leader in the new refigerant line, First to come out with it and more experienced with it.Trane dosen't even have it that I know of yet, they might though. Trane is more technical to work therfore costing the consumer more ...to many gadgets and bords and this runs this that runs that and they all blew at once. Plus if you get the Deluxe model from bryant you can barely hear it, very quite, uses a low RPM motor. You realy want a low energy bill put in a variable speed A.H. and a two speed condenser, Gauranteed to drop you electric bill by a 1/3 or more.I have seen, I would not push them if I hadn't..Hope this helps..

[Shafe]

I have to disagree with the man that said gas heat was more efficient than Heat pumps. To compare the two you need to define efficient, the amount of heat out of a unit / by the amount put into it. If you use that equation Heat pumps are more efficant by many times that of Gas units.

The issue at hand is cost of operation. Depending on cost of electricity and cost of gas, you can calculate the cost of heating for a season. I use a heating cost comparison program to do that after I do a load calculation. Here in Northeast Iowa we pay 3 cents a KW for electricity when heating with it and as of today we are paying 85 cents for a cubic foot of Nat. gas. Lp is higher than that. The ave. cost of a heat pump to run was half or less of what a gas unit would cost for the same season.

Heat pumps have also be very relible in the feild and many improvements have been made since 1978. You should look at Lennox's evenheat feature if you need electric heat for make up heat. It will temper the air coming out of the blower to the user setting to make the heat more even. Depending on the size of your home you might want to go with a 2 stage unit.

[ 04-04-2003, 09:30 PM: Message edited by: Shafe ]

[thepapabear]

Dear Shafe,
It is good to hear that you are satisfied with you heat pump. I still stand by most of what I have written in the earlier post, but you have correctly pointed out at least one thing that I stated incorrectly (NG being more effiecnt than a HP).

As I stated it, that is clearly incorrect. Since a HP moves heat and does not actually produce heat directly from a fuel, it should be more efficient than NG or most any other heat source and in this you are entirely correct.

What I should have talked about is comfort at the most efficient cost and this is not as easlily measured. In the past (early 1990's) I sold a large number of HP's and had many satisfied customers. I also owned one in my home, which I later chose to update and replaced with a split system AC and NG furnace. The one difference for me was comfort of heating.

Let me explain if I can. At the time most HP installations were providing heated air (when operating in the HP mode) at about 95-96 degrees F. A gas furnace, in contrast, provides heated air at about 120 degrees. 95-96 degrees will surely heat one's home, but since average body temp. is around 98-99 degrees this forced air heat can be perceived as "cool heat" or cool air.

The other design cosideration that all HP's have to take into account is called the balance point. A HP can only move a maximun number of BTU from outside to inside. At some point the heating requirement in colder weather is beyound the capacity of the HP. This capacity is a function of both the outside temp, the space to heat (e.g. your home), and the installed system. At the calculated balance point the HP's output and the heating requirment for the space are equal. If the outside temp drops lower, the HP must have a supplement such as electic heat strips or a gas furnace. This is where I think the NG furnace is many times a bargin. Simpler design, usually lower equipment cost, and a perceived comfort level of warmer heat. Again this is a personal choice and many customers like either HP's or a furnace equally. I find the furnace to "feel" warmer during cold weather.

I hope I haven't been too long winded. And you comments are right on the mark.


[ 04-09-2003, 04:34 PM: Message edited by: thepapabear ]