On 8/22/2019 1:21 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...

You're in NC right? Sounds about right. By the time you get to NJ,
they really aren't viable. 3 ton is 36K BTU, my furnace is 120K.
I have a 5 ton AC, which would be 60K BTUS, too small, which is
why they have backup resistance heat and that would come into play
too much here. I wonder where they mostly disappear? North of DC?




Right, in the middle of NC.

Heat pumps work very well here. If I lived much north of here I would
probably install a heatpump if installing an AC. I doubt the cost would
be much different. They are about the same thing with a reversing valve.
Use it on the days it was above say around 25 to 30 deg F and switch to
some other type of heat when it got colder.

I am talking about the air type HP and not the ones that have coils in
the earth or wells.

The resistance heat that comes on when it is much below 25 F starts to
be very costly in many areas.

I'm in FL now and it seldom gets below 40 here. My electric bill was
$70 for January. In CT it would have been closer to $100 plus the cost
of heating oil, another $150 or so. They work well in milder climates.
Remember some years back when the all electric house was touted as the
future? Yeah, not with the cold temperatures and high electric rates in
the Northeast.