On Oct 17, 6:28*pm, Art Todesco wrote:
Tony wrote:
I have electric hot air heat and I am wondering how much I can expect
save with a heat pump? *Eastern TN, almost in the Smokies and the North
Carolina border. *Elevation about 1650'. *It's around 15 degrees warmer
on the west side of the smokies where I am than compared to the NC side..

I've managed to keep the electric bill below $115 most of the winters
when I turn down the central heat to 55-60 and use a small portable
electric heater in the room I am using. *I would like to heat the whole
house to 68F. using a heat pump. *I figure the heating portion of the
electric bill is about $75-$90. *How much would that be with a heat
pump? *If my rough figures are anywhere near accurate, it looks like I
won't break even for 15 to 20 years and that is without heating the
whole house to 68F.

I just built a house on the NC side near
Franklin. *I have a high efficiency
(16SEER) 2 stage heat pump/AC unit. *Our
last month electric bill ran $73.
That included AC and a little heat at
the end. *We ran the AC even thought
is wasn't too warm out, mostly to bring
down the humidity. *A heat pump
can give you several times the heat
output for the same amount of electricity
as straight resistance heat .
BTW, this morning it was 45 degrees and
for the 1st time, the 2nd stage
heat pump kicked in during a few cycles.
* My backup, when it gets too
cold for the heat pump, is a propane
furnace.

Agree with the above. I also don't see why the extra cost of a
ground source heat pump compared to air would be worth it in Tenn. I
would think that climate is moderate enough that you would have to use
a lot of heating/cooling for it to come out ahead. If you were in VT
it would be a different story.

Whether switching to any heat pump is worth it is questionable given
your low existing bills. However, if you were heating the whole
house to a higher temp, then it could start to make sense.