Where Heat Pumps Win — And Where They Lose | Five findings from an extremely thorough study by the US National Renewable Energy Lab.
Where Heat Pumps Win — And Where They Lose | Five findings from an extremely thorough study by the US National Renewable Energy Lab.
Five findings from an extremely thorough study by the National Renewable Energy Lab.
Archived copies of the article: web.archive.org ghostarchive.org archive.today
You're viewing a single thread.
I call this the laser disc phase. When a tech is new and cool but still not evolved to practical.
We need to see whole house systems. All heating and cooling in the house in one system. AHU, dryer, fridge, water heater, oven, .....
When a tech is new and cool but still not evolved to practical.
My friend, there is nothing "new" about this technology. It has been around for ages. As a child I lived in a home with a heat pump, and that was in the late 80s. I'm gettin' pretty old here, and heat pumps are even older than me. Heat pumps are just air conditioners with one extra part: a reversing valve that allows the direction of flow to be switched so the hot side of the system can be inside in the winter and outside in the summer.
Heat pumps don't require further evolution to become practical, they're already practical. Beyond practical! It's a heating technology capable of efficiency greater than 100%. It's called a "heat pump" because the system doesn't create heat, it moves heat. From outside to inside in winter, and inside to outside in summer. Since a heat pump is not creating heat, instead moving energy that already exists, it's possible to get more energy out (in the form of heat) than the energy you put in (in the form of electricity). Generative heating technologies (natural gas or oil furnace, resistive electric heat) cannot match that as they will always be below 100% efficiency.
I live in Canada, I have a heat pump, and it is great. If you think heat pumps are bad, or not suited to northern climates, or not yet practical... I'm sorry, but you're misinformed.
What's new is that heat pumps capable of warming a house in truly cold weather became commercially available in the US
My heat pump does fine at 0F. And has done since the late 80s. And if it can’t it has electric backup heat.
This has been what's in my house/apartments since I was 8 and first learned about them when ours went out and my grandpa came over to fix it.
Heat pump, with 1-3 rows of coils for electric backup heat. Lowest Temps I've experienced were -20F and highest were 110F. Struggled to cool below 75 at the top, and heat above 60 at the lows. But those are rare extremes (on the low side anyway, I expect the high side to "peak" more often in coming years)
And none of the systems were younger than 2005.
Ground source or air?
Air. Just a bog-standard midrange heat pump, though it's probably grossly oversized.
So you have an integrated system that all the appliances I listed run on? Or you have an old fashioned forced air unit with its own condenser?
No, because that would be silly.
you are the one saying you had it in your childhood home.
The house I live in has had a heat pump since there were laserdiscs. They’re not new, they’re just air conditioners running backward.
Show me. I want to so your dryer and fridge connections to the variable port condenser from 40 years ago.
That sounds both like you've had a stroke and that you want one compressor to do three jobs, which is stupid because they all need to be different sizes.
My dude, you are never going to have a heat pump oven.
But the neat thing is they STILL work together. The heat cast off by a fridge/freezer can be picked up by a stand-alone heat pump hot water heater. When you need cooling, both that hot water heater and the heat pump will work to cool the house. And in the winter, the heat the hot water needs will be first bought in by the heat pump.
Watch and learn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43XKfuptnik
The best part about my heat pump water heater is I have a massive "refrigerator" in my house. It keeps the room it's in about 45°F year round, which is great for storing wine and root vegetables, and storing beverages in there means they get cold in the fridge a lot faster.
Great for those on the south. Not as great for those of us that have to heat our homes, meaning a furnace or another heat pump needs to make up that heat.
Not that they are bad, mind you, they are quite good, just another part of the economic equation. Makes it more of a home run where you are cooling most of the year anyway.
My water heater is in an unheated basement closet, so technically most of the energy it's getting is geothermal since the walls are always at 50 degrees. It would probably be even more efficient if
Also, since the water heater is inside the house and is constantly leaking heat, it's not really cooling the house very much at all because the heat is still inside, just in an insulated bottle.
Mine is in my finished, heated basement (which is largely above street grade, so not too much geothermal). And while some heat does go back into the room, much of it goes down the drain when you use hot water.
Hell no, the power grid being a central point of failure is enough of a concern, we don't need to lose power to the fridge when any of the other interconnected systems needs repairs.
I have news for you, my natural gas furnace doesn't work when there is no power, either. Turns out you need electricity to ignite the gas, run a fan to exhaust combustion gases, and circulate air through the heat exchanger and ductwork.
Just amazing that the thing I pointed out is true for you too! What are the odds?
But does your fridge being unplugged for repairs impact your furnance running now?
??? the power grid is already a single point of failure. And, with what I proposed a fridge would only have power for the light, it would not need to be plugged in to get cold. You should look into hermetic pump systems before you go off making obtuse dismissals.
the power grid being a central point of failure is enough of a concern
??? the power grid is already a single point of failure.
What do words mean?
This is why I supplement my heat pump with a wood stove in the winter. In a real pinch I can heat my house with furniture.