On Tue, 29 Oct 2019 16:24:14 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Monday, October 28, 2019 at 12:42:09 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Mon, 28 Oct 2019 07:42:10 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 8:57:47 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Wed, 23 Oct 2019 11:57:15 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 1:39:53 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tue, 22 Oct 2019 23:28:59 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article op.z927scfkwdg98l@glass, says...

The USA has snowy parts does it not? Have they not realised you can reverse those AC units?



I have a heat pump. It does the heating and cooling.

I live about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the US. We do not
usually have very many days where it gets below 15 deg F.

Heat pumps loose efficency below about 25 deg F. Around 15 deg F they
are really poor and probably cost as much as resistive electrical heat
to run. They usually have electrical heating elements in the inside
duct work to help when it is very cold.

That is the reason that most of the Norther states where it gets to near
zero F and lower the heat pumps are not used . It is usually more
efficent and less expensive to use other forms of heat.

I have never checked the price but I would think there should not be
much difference in a heat pump and plain air condition. I would install
the heat pump and another form of heat.

There are some units called a gas pack. They have natural gas for the
heat and electric for the AC.


The flip side of that is down here around the 26th parallel and below
heat pumps don't make that much sense economically because we seldom
actually turn on the heat and when we do it is typically a small space
heater, not heating up the whole house. The 30-40 hours a year or less
that my wife has a 1440w heater going would not justify paying the
extra money for a heat pump and she only heats a small space, not the
whole house. The heat pump draws more than 1440w.

But for the 1440W with the heat pump you'd get 4x, 5x the heat that
you get from an electric resistance heater. You could heat all or most
of the place, instead of one room.


The problem is the central air system draws twice that and why bother
heating rooms we are not in?

Because the heat pump has a COP of 4+? You can heat 4 rooms for
the same electric that it costs to heat your 1 room with a resistance
heater. You can block off
a few rooms, heat 4 rooms or more for the same cost. I would think
that would be an advantage for most people.


The problem is the condenser draws more current than the space heater
so it is still going to be more money to heat rooms we are not using

Why would that be? With a COP of 4, you get 4 times the heat out of
the heat pump as you do with the electric space heater. That would mean
you could heat about 4 rooms for the same price as one.




and she won't get that blast of warm air she wants.

That's true. How about an electric radiant heater. They direct the
heat to whatever is right in front of them, without heating the whole
room.

This 1440w heater is part of the electric fireplace built in here. It
blows out right on her feet and we don't attempt to heat the whole
room. She just has it on for a little while in the morning watching
Jenna and Hoda. Even then it is probably only 20 days a year.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/cabinet%202016.jpg