On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:12:24 -0400, 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.

Not sure how your winters compare with ours but I'm in AZ and had a
heat pump. It was a three ton unit and in our mild winters it
struggled to warm the place up and took forever to do it. I replaced
the whole thing with a straight AC unit and retrofitted electric
resistance strips into the air handlers. I have seen essentially no
change in my winter bills and the house warms up much faster. In
houses in the past I've had with heat pumps I've never been very
impressed with their performance. In some weather conditions they
spend as much time in reverse cycle melting ice that they never warm
up the house.