Heat Pump vs Air Conditioner

After the few hot periods this summer in Central Ontario Canada (I know it is nothing like some of you folks in the southern USA but it was darn hot) we are considering central air conditioning. We have FAOil heating now so the duct work is in place.

Looking for comments from folks who have researched the pros and cons of a heat pump (A/C in Summer and heat in spring and fall) versus a straight A/C system for the summer.

Any recommendations on unit brands, reliability, service, etc would be appreciated.

Thanks Bob

<font color="purple"> Looking for comments from folks </font color>

For the past 17 years in MD, we had a heat pump system that provided all AC, and 90% of our heat (supplemented by an electric resistance furnace).

The AC was good; always cool air. On the heat side, when you are running off the heat pump only, the air coming off the vent feels cool, but it eventually does the job of changing the temp. You want to avoid the electric resistance heating if you can, but sometimes it is unavoidable. In general, the heat pump systems work well if you can keep the house closed up and use the system to maintain the temps; they are not as efficient at changing the temps (as in if your CFO wants the windows open all the time) [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

I understand that dedicated AC units will be even better at cooling than a heat pump, but I don't know the cost comparisons.

Several years ago whole developments put in that used heat pumps. There were many unhappy people and most converted to natural gas units. That was in Upstate New York and I would think that you may have the same problems. As the air gets colder outside the units lose efficiency and the electric bill goes up and up.

Hank is right about the temperature of the air coming out of the vents. It can feel like a cold draft.

I live in FL and have an A/C with heat pump. The installers told me that the heat pump worked well with outside temperatures above 35 F. Below that, the efficiency was not too good; therefore, the unit has an electric coil for emergency heat.

I asked some questions and here are some reasons it seems the A/C works better than the heat pump.

If the outside temp is 90F, and you set the thermostat to 75F, the difference is only 15 degrees.

If the outside temp is 30F, and you set the thermostat to 60F, the difference is 30 degrees.

This means that the unit has to do more work to heat the house than cool the house. Overall, Freon was not designed to heat homes, and fossil fuel generates more BTU's in a shorter period of time. Therefore, oil/gas heat seem to work better since they can transfer heat into the home faster than Freon.

Take care,

Joe R.

I have a heat pump here in central Texas (somewhat south of you) and are pretty happy with it. However, I will second what others have said, I've heard cold temps are a no-no with heat pumps. When it gets really cold outside (20 F) [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] and it's humid, I've had my outdoor unit covered in ice.

The A/C works just like any other, at least to my untrained skin, but the heat coming out of the vents is kind of cool. Positives to that are very even heat distribution, and it doesn't get real dry in the house like forced air gas or wood stoves.

My electric bill is very reasonable compared to others around here, despite me liking it a little cooler in the summer (75 F).

We had a heat pump installed when we bought the house in '99. It does all of the AC and maybe 50% of heat. AC works great, well I guess we supplement it with ceiling fans to keep the air moving and so it feels cooler. First 2 years we froze in the house always had to have a blanket on. To top it off the fan would "go out" on the heat pump condensor unit. What in reality was happening it was getting too cold and too much humidity and it was freezing up. When I called the installer I asked why isn't wasn't switching over to the propane furnace he said that I need to manually switch it over to the "emergency heat" setting. I told him that was BS and that I didn't want to have to remember to do that each night before I went to bed and set it back the next morning. He then told me about an outside thermostat that could be installed. This gets installed on the side of the heat pump out side. You can then adjust your temparature from 0 - 60 degrees and at that point your hp won't run but your normal furnace will. Last year was great, we stayed warm, the fan didn't "go out" and our electric bill dropped because our hp wasn't running all of the time - but we did use more propane. Hey, what can I say the furnace actually kicked in when it was supposed other than when I would manage to pry myself out from under the blanket and manually do it. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Bottom line: If you are going to do it, get an outside thermostat. Ask me that question about a year and half ago and I would have said skip the hp, go straight AC, but now we love our hp.