HVAC Heat Pump

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by JSH

That assumes a heat pump's maximum efficiency is 100% but it is not. The theoretic maximum efficiency of a heat pump for 10C to 60C is 670%. When we look at heat pump efficiency ratings that includes 100% of the electrical draw, pumps, fans, wifi, little light that says the temp.


Both you and Freebird would likely come out ahead adding a window heat pump. It wouldn't help you at night in the dead of winter but it would be much more efficient than gas or electric resistance heating during the shoulder season and when temps are at freezing or above. For Freebird here in Oregon a heat pump would pretty much always outperform electric heat.

It comes down to what you pay for a therm of NG vs a kWh of electricity.

There can be a few days where it would be nice to have A/C. I guess I could look into the cost difference of an A/C unit of some sort and a heat pump that has both heating and cooling options.

Usually at night the furnace is off until the morning, even when it's -20 °F outside. But then heating up the whole house is a bit of a waste. It would be nice to have a warm bedroom when waking up, and a warm bathroom for taking baths.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

There can be a few days where it would be nice to have A/C. I guess I could look into the cost difference of an A/C unit of some sort and a heat pump that has both heating and cooling options.

For this 12,000 BTU window unit it is $409 A/C vs $499 for the heat pump.

https://www.amazon.com/Midea-Cooling...0B3NJGSKL?th=1

[redpoint5]

Yeah, window heat pump for small living quarters would make up the cost very quickly over resistive heating (including electric oil radiators).

Hotels use a heat pump for a reason, and that's because it makes financial sense.

[Piotrsko]

Could take a standard window A/C unit and reverse it so it's blowing cold outside, but that's kinda inefficient. Will warm up a room nicely, but resistance heat is cheaper

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by JSH

For this 12,000 BTU window unit it is $409 A/C vs $499 for the heat pump.

https://www.amazon.com/Midea-Cooling...0B3NJGSKL?th=1

Thanks! You definitely got me thinking!

That one is nice. But it does seem to have a higher than normal lowest temp for heat pump at 41 °F. If it's for heating the bedroom in the morning, it might not be all that great for most of the year. It's been over a month since we had warmer than 41 °F temps in the morning. This entire week it's supposed to be in the 20's in the mornings.

Edit: I did find this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085G3W3VD/?th=1. It is almost twice the price, but it does pump heat clear down to an outside temperature of -4 °F. (Or -15 °F on some models according the manual, not sure if this is the -4 or the -15 model.)

Incidently, these 12,000 BTU units say they are for about 550 sqft. That's the square footage of my entire mobile home. I believe the bedroom is 40 sqft.

Maybe if I rework my work schedule to work later at night, get home and sleep at 4 a.m. and get up around noon. But I don't want to be stuck to that schedule just to be able to use a heat pump.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Could take a standard window A/C unit and reverse it so it's blowing cold outside, but that's kinda inefficient. Will warm up a room nicely, but resistance heat is cheaper

A reversed A/C unit is still likely at least 200% efficient as it is still using phase change to move heat. It would be a pain to take apart a window A/C unit and swap the position of the evaporator and the condenser.

The initial purchase price of resistance heat is cheaper but those electric bills add up fast at only 100% efficiency.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Thanks! You definitely got me thinking!

That one is nice. But it does seem to have a higher than normal lowest temp for heat pump at 41 °F. If it's for heating the bedroom in the morning, it might not be all that great for most of the year. It's been over a month since we had warmer than 41 °F temps in the morning. This entire week it's supposed to be in the 20's in the mornings.

Edit: I did find this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085G3W3VD/?th=1. It is almost twice the price, but it does pump heat clear down to an outside temperature of -4 °F. (Or -15 °F on some models according the manual, not sure if this is the -4 or the -15 model.)

Incidently, these 12,000 BTU units say they are for about 550 sqft. That's the square footage of my entire mobile home. I believe the bedroom is 40 sqft.

Maybe if I rework my work schedule to work later at night, get home and sleep at 4 a.m. and get up around noon. But I don't want to be stuck to that schedule just to be able to use a heat pump.

40 sqft is just over 6ft by 6ft. A 6ft room wouldn't fit my length. A king sized mattress is 42 sqft, so your bedroom is less than that size?

I tried sleeping on a twin with my wife, and it was miserable. We both resorted to placing appendages into our undergarments to keep them from dangling off the bed.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

40 sqft is just over 6ft by 6ft. A 6ft room wouldn't fit my length. A king sized mattress is 42 sqft, so your bedroom is less than that size?

I tried sleeping on a twin with my wife, and it was miserable. We both resorted to placing appendages into our undergarments to keep them from dangling off the bed.

I remember now, it's 80 sqft.

The second bedroom, where my wife and I were sleeping, is about 6ft x 6.5ft. We had a full sized bed. My head did touch one wall with my feet flat against the other wall as I'm 6'1". Turning the bed the other way wouldn't work because it would be in front of the closet or the door, or both.

Now we made part of the living-room/dining-room/kitchen area into another bedroom, also 40 sqft, for one boy and moved the boys out of the main bedroom into those 40 sqft bedrooms. We moved into the main bedroom that is 80 sqft. We now have a queen-sized bed. I don't think a king bed would work, the room feels kind of small even with a queen. But at least my feet don't hang off the end like in a full.

[redpoint5]

There's a guy at my church who, on his "day off", drove a bus route, painted a building, and cleaned offices. He also certified me in CPR with used equipment he bought online. Wherever opportunity presents itself to him, he shows up.

When McDonalds is offering twenty bucks an hour to teenagers, you know you're living in the Golden Age. These sophomores in high school are receiving forty thousand dollars a year to place the 3 pickle slices in a column on top of the expensive burger instead of spreading them out.

[Isaac Zachary]

I know how and where I can work. I have lots of people who call me and want me to work for them even without applying. I just did a gig for the past 11 months at $29 per hour that they called me just because they heard about me.

But, at about $30 an hour for 40 hours, I might qualify for a condo that needs work and would be about 2/3 my paycheck. The cheapest houses (that still need a lot of work) start at a price I'd need to be making about double, so $60 an hour for 40 hours or $30 an hour for 80 hours. I don't see either as an option in my circumstances.

Painting and doing CPR classes on my day off that doesn't exist would not be enough, unless I'm getting some $100 an hour or better. I don't see that happening.