"karel" wrote in message
oups.com...
We just got our heat pump installed. I tried to do my homework on
deciding which way to go. They just finished installing yesterday so
this morning we decided to try out the system. We live in the Pacific
Northwest. Right now the temp is about 50 degrees so not too cold. I
started out at 58 degrees in the house and turned it up to 62 degrees.
A half hour later of constant running and the house has come up one
degree. I called the company to ask them if this was normal. I was
told that to come up 4 whole degrees to expect 2 to 2 1/2 hours for
that amount of temp to come up. WHAT?? Everybody told me how
"efficient" this was going to be. I told them this system is very
INefficient if it takes that long. They said, oh no, this will cost
you much less than plain electric heat. I told them that was called
"COST EFFECTIVE" and had nothing to do with efficiency. Well, they
didn't know what to tell me - that this was the way heat pumps work.
Why didn't somebody address this before. Or didn't I research this
enough. It never occurred to me that it wouldn't heat my home. I'm
really upset by this whole $8,000 experience. BTW, my house is 1900 SF
and I got a 2 1/2 ton 14 SEER American Standard with a 3 ton air
handler. Thanks for letting me vent. karel


I can't speak to the efficiency of heat pumps, but I know this: 12 years
ago, we had an ice storm here in upstate NY. My house was unheated for a
week, so it got down to 35 degrees inside. Once power was restored, it took
about two days for the place to feel comfortable again. It's not just the
air you're heating, but all the objects in the house, too. The thermostat
has no way of knowing how cold your furniture is. Get your house up to a
comfortable temp for a few days, and THEN see how much the thing runs in
order to maintain that temp. There may still be issues, but in just one day,
I don't think you can accurately determine that.