This week I went to an event where they had this amazing machine that demonstrated the workings of a heat pump: taking a unit of heat from the right side and transferring it to the left side, the beers are cooled and the (vegan) sausages are warmed. I think it's brilliant and should be used to overcome any doubts or resistance to heat pumps, especially in Germany. Maybe they should be mandatory in every beer hall?
A few weeks ago a #HeatPump appeared outside the house, so it got plumbed in and the radiators all got made larger, et cetera. But there was no electrician available to wire it all up. Today the electricians have arrived and are working their magic, and so hopefully by the end of the day I'll have central heating again for the first time since about April :D
Finally signed our #HVAC contract for a #heatpump! After changing our plans multiple times, we ended up with a way more reasonable price, with 5 heads total on 3 floors. Work will probably start this week? Excited!
"The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called ground source heat pumps the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available."
Can I afford the up-front cost? Hard to know, unless I can find an installer willing to drill boreholes on my property, so I can get a quote. (Ideally 2 to compare.)
We're super glad to have our #heatpump now and thankful for the rebate and loan #Ontario will (probably) give us.
However, you need to:
-Do an energy assessment before the work can be done (we did that in mid-August).
-Have the work done (mid-November)
-Have a second energy assessment (mid-January!)
And then, we'll get the rebate. For the loan, who knows? So it's a big investment for people as we already paid for the first assessment and for the entirety of the work.
We love our #HeatPump. It is SO quiet, remarkably efficient, and it can cool a room in minutes. Our place has no ductwork and we have the wall units, and I love that we can use it only in the rooms we're actually in.
You work in IT and want a job where you can really save tons of CO2? Vamo, a heatpump startup, is looking for people to join their IT-team to help them connect heatpumps to the cloud!
I installed an el-cheapo Costway $700 heat pump mini-split on our shop in the fall and suddenly this week we ran into issues with ice blockups preventing the heat pump from draining condensate.
A quick installation of a $25 3 foot length of heat tape ran along the bottom solved it! 🥳 It draws 15 watts at most. Even with the fan running, the heat tape does its job. It's rated down to -30C but well by then I'd switch to auxiliary resistive heating.
Are you thinking of switch to a #heatpump during the next few months; here are some experiences which offer food for thought about how you might proceed.
The costs remain high & the experience of installation is uneven, but it may still make sense if you can stomach the current up-front investment?
Whether this can be a major part of the response to the #climatecrisis remains to be seen
Has anyone in #Massachusetts switched their gas furnace over to electric #HeatPump? How much do your gas and electric bills change?
Can't find much information about this, at least because of the strange situation with gas being much cheaper than electricity in MA. Also, anybody have experience with the #Ecoer brand of heat pump?
"hats off to the Energy and Utilities Association (EUA), the lobby of the gas boiler industry. An impressive number of stories in the British press attacking heat pumps track back to its publicity handlers WPR, ...Rarely have I seen a PR company do such a masterful job."
Meanwhile, new technologies are improving heat pumps.
This new 11 MW(th) Air-Water #HeatPump in Vermo, Espoo is the largest of it's kind in #Finland and a first step to 100MW Air-Source HPs on the #Fortum#DistrictHeating network in Espoo, Kauniainen and Kirkkonummi.
It was built last year next to a 160 MW oil-fired peak boiler. This week temperatures plunge below the design temperature -15°C of the #ASHP, so the peak boiler takes over. Luckily only for few days annually, and using bio-oil. #SectorCoupling#Wärmewende
My landlord installed a heatpump / electric combo water heater last month. It has a wifi connectivity feature that supposedly lets you schedule the water heater.
I was excited to be able to turn it off during peak times (4 to 9pm) and at night and set it to high efficiency mode when needed.
Pricing heat pump water heaters, I will not DIY this since it involves gas lines on the old convention tank plus city inspections. Let the number crunching and hand wringing commence.