this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
124 points (97.7% liked)

Asklemmy

43965 readers
1423 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Looking to get some anecdotal experiences from someone living in a cold climate using a heat pump as their main source of heat.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I’m north of the 49th parallel so my winters get a fair bit colder than yours.

When you did use it in the winter did it ever struggle?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

When you did use it in the winter did it ever struggle?

Yeah, when it would drop below about 25-30 degrees F it couldn't keep up and the aux heat would kick in. Which at the time was VERY expensive dual 10,000 Watt electric coils in the ductwork.

Mine is an older model though from 2007 I think. I know the newer ones are MUCH better and some can go sub-zero.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Isn't it really how well your home is insulated and whether the heat pump can keep up with the escaping heat?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

no, heat pumps are rated for and work most efficiently at a specific temperature range. You're pumping energy from outside in, so the outside temperature matters a lot.

you can have all the insulation in the world and it won't matter if the heat pump can't transfer that energy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

For heating specifically, heat pumps do le’t really work well (just yet). I’m well south of you and it’s cheaper to use gas than a heat pump. Maybe you could pair it with a geothermal sink to increase efficiency?