Would you buy a home with an electric heat pump?

Thread Starter

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Measuring in a north and south direction, Pittsburgh is in between Florida and North Dakota.
One place is too warm, one place is too cold, and one place is where Goldilocks lives...just right.

Once I retire and the folks are gone, I will probably move to North or South Carolina or some place south but not too far south. It would be nice to have a place on the Gulf and some place in Maine but I am guessing that won't be in the cards for me. Unless I buy a boat and be a snowbird, but live aboard is difficult. I would have to give up a lot of stuff.
 

Brownout

Joined Jan 10, 2012
2,390
I use a heat pump in my house. When the temp is >40's to high 30's it works well enough. When the temp drops to low 30's, I use kerosene space heaters. This year, I used ALOT of keorsine.

I live in Alabama.
 

Linkon305

Joined Mar 19, 2014
0
Here are really interesting post. I am totally agree with you and would like to say thanks to you that you share this post here with us. It's great to having such facility at your home. Here are to much difference between us so sorry.
 

gerty

Joined Aug 30, 2007
1,305
My house had a heat pump when I bought it, never cared for it. When it finally went out I replaced it with natural gas, much better.
During an ice storm several years ago, my small (5500w) generator was able to keep whole house warm. All it had to do was run the blower motor. If I still had heat pump there's no way it could have powered the aux heat bank.
I'm in middle TN,about 60 miles from the GA and AL borders, and some days the heat pump itself just wasn't enough to warm the house.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
That's a fact, jack. And that's why I wouldn't bother with a heat pump in North Dakota. In the middle states there are a few days each year that will stop a heat pump. Even in Florida they are required to be installed with supplemental electric heat.
 

Zerotolerance

Joined Sep 18, 2011
55
Heat pumps are most efficient at or above 40deg F. Every home if it has a heat pump should also have Emergency heat. I don't care where you live in the states. :)
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
That's a fact, jack. And that's why I wouldn't bother with a heat pump in North Dakota. In the middle states there are a few days each year that will stop a heat pump. Even in Florida they are required to be installed with supplemental electric heat.
Two or three years ago our local college decided spend a fortune on converting over from their 100+ year old coal and NG fired boiler system to a supposedly super efficient but massive ground source heat pump based central heating system where they could then tear down the old heating building and make more parking space or somthing like that.

Anyway I as at the college Tuesday helping out with the science olympiads and I saw that interestingly enough the old heating building was still there plus the boilers were still puffing away full bore like they had been doing for the last 100 years.

Word was the huge ground source heat pump system fell flat on its face about 2/3's of the way through the first winter and has been nearly useless for anything but basic air conditioning since. :rolleyes:

I mean who could have predicted that if you suck all the heat out of mass of earth the size of a cubic city block until it's frozen solid that it won't warm up on its own in summer without something putting all the thermal energy back in. It's not like a college id full of smart people with physics doctorates who can do basic math and science relating to this sort of stuff. :p
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
They work better in a place where the ground water moves. I direct your attention to the fact that Florida is made out of sand.
 

Thread Starter

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Well it is sort of moot because the place went contingent a couple of days ago. It must have been on the market 3 or 4 days! How does someone arrange to see a home then commit to near $200K in just a few days??? I think that is insane.
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
How does someone arrange to see a home then commit to near $200K in just a few days??? I think that is insane.
I take it you are not aware of the law of nature where you either get brains or money but not both. :rolleyes:
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
and a few million dollars will do a brainectomy just as surely as a beautiful woman when either one are dropped in your lap. :D
 

Linkon305

Joined Mar 19, 2014
0
Here are really interesting post. I am totally agree with you and would like to say thanks to you that you share this post here with us. It's great to having such facility at your home. Here are to much difference between us, so am sorry.
Any other comment...!!!
 
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#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
Oh. There's a spam link infesting your post.
I'll tell the moderators so they can clean that up for you.
Thanks for drawing attention to that.
 
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