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Posted by on October 6, 2008, 11:51 am
I have a friend who has a cottage that has gas fireplace for heat.
The cottage was built as a beach house and probably is not well
insulated. The gas available is propane and propane now costs more
than resistive electric heating in the Pacific Northwest. And that is
without considering the efficiency of the gas fireplace. One
solution for her would be to replace the gas fireplace with a wood or
pellet stove. And that is probably her best choice, even though it
would require installing a new chimney ( the gas fireplace is vented
through the wall and the height is considerably below the roof top).
But she has decided against that.
If anyone built a heat pump that was just intended for heating ( that
is no way to use it for air conditioning ) that would work well.
There is no great need for air conditioning for a beach house on Puget
Sound. But I do not know of any.
So the question is what are the major differences between a window
heat pump and a window air conditioner? Besides the obvious things as
the reversing valves.
Could one buy a used window air conditioner and installing it
backwards be at all feasible. One would have to short out the
thermostat in the air conditioner and install a thermostat inside the
cottage wired to an outlet. And one might have to use a timer so it
would not run long enough to ice up the evaporator. And it would not
be useful when it was really cold. But there is a large portion of
the year where the temperature is about 50 to 55 F. Not comfortable
without some heat, but not a lot of heat needed.
Used air conditioners in the PNW are very cheap. In the range of $30
to $50 for a almost new 5000 btu to 10,000 btu window unit. Almost as
cheap as an electric resistance heater. So there is no concern about
having a guarantee.
Dan
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Posted by Noon-Air on October 6, 2008, 1:31 pm
>I have a friend who has a cottage that has gas fireplace for heat.
> The cottage was built as a beach house and probably is not well
> insulated. The gas available is propane and propane now costs more
> than resistive electric heating in the Pacific Northwest. And that is
> without considering the efficiency of the gas fireplace. One
> solution for her would be to replace the gas fireplace with a wood or
> pellet stove. And that is probably her best choice, even though it
> would require installing a new chimney ( the gas fireplace is vented
> through the wall and the height is considerably below the roof top).
> But she has decided against that.
> If anyone built a heat pump that was just intended for heating ( that
> is no way to use it for air conditioning ) that would work well.
> There is no great need for air conditioning for a beach house on Puget
> Sound. But I do not know of any.
> So the question is what are the major differences between a window
> heat pump and a window air conditioner? Besides the obvious things as
> the reversing valves.
> Could one buy a used window air conditioner and installing it
> backwards be at all feasible. One would have to short out the
> thermostat in the air conditioner and install a thermostat inside the
> cottage wired to an outlet. And one might have to use a timer so it
> would not run long enough to ice up the evaporator. And it would not
> be useful when it was really cold. But there is a large portion of
> the year where the temperature is about 50 to 55 F. Not comfortable
> without some heat, but not a lot of heat needed.
> Used air conditioners in the PNW are very cheap. In the range of $30
> to $50 for a almost new 5000 btu to 10,000 btu window unit. Almost as
> cheap as an electric resistance heater. So there is no concern about
> having a guarantee.
> Dan
Do you want it cheap?? or do you want it right??
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Posted by on October 6, 2008, 1:49 pm
> Do you want it cheap?? or do you want it right??
Actually I want to increase my knowledge in how air conditioners
differ from heat pumps. Could a heat pump be produced at roughly the
same cost of a air conditioner if it were made only to heat the
building? Or are there differences that require additional costs?
Would a capillary tube work for a heat pump or is a expansion valve
necessary? Does the evaporator coil need to be much bigger?
Inquiring minds want to know
Dan
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Posted by Steve on October 6, 2008, 3:57 pm
> Do you want it cheap?? or do you want it right??
Actually I want to increase my knowledge in how air conditioners
differ from heat pumps. Could a heat pump be produced at roughly the
same cost of a air conditioner if it were made only to heat the
building? Or are there differences that require additional costs?
Would a capillary tube work for a heat pump or is a expansion valve
necessary? Does the evaporator coil need to be much bigger?
Inquiring minds want to know
Dan
--------------------------------
The difference is the reversing valve, and accumulator.... other than that
they are the same..... Size it for heating in your area... Do a Manual J
calculation to correctly size it, and a Manual D for designing the ductwork
for correct airflow to each room.
FWIW, all the new equipment has expansion valves in it. Stay as far away
from R-22 as possible, use equipment that takes R-410a refrigerant.
If inquiring minds *REALLY* want to know, they should be calling their
local, competent, licensed, insured, professionally trained, HVAC technician
to do the calculations, and explain the best options for a properly sized,
and correctly installed comfort system.
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Posted by on October 6, 2008, 4:24 pm
wrote:
>> Do you want it cheap?? or do you want it right??
>Actually I want to increase my knowledge in how air conditioners
>differ from heat pumps. Could a heat pump be produced at roughly the
>same cost of a air conditioner if it were made only to heat the
>building? Or are there differences that require additional costs?
>Would a capillary tube work for a heat pump or is a expansion valve
>necessary? Does the evaporator coil need to be much bigger?
> Inquiring minds want to know
> Dan
>--------------------------------
>The difference is the reversing valve, and accumulator.... other than that
>they are the same....
Wrong. You forgot defrost control. Critical element.
>. Size it for heating in your area... Do a Manual J
>calculation to correctly size it, and a Manual D for designing the ductwork
>for correct airflow to each room.
>FWIW, all the new equipment has expansion valves in it. Stay as far away
>from R-22 as possible, use equipment that takes R-410a refrigerant.
>If inquiring minds *REALLY* want to know, they should be calling their
>local, competent, licensed, insured, professionally trained, HVAC technician
>to do the calculations, and explain the best options for a properly sized,
>and correctly installed comfort system.
--
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> The cottage was built as a beach house and probably is not well
> insulated. The gas available is propane and propane now costs more
> than resistive electric heating in the Pacific Northwest. And that is
> without considering the efficiency of the gas fireplace. One
> solution for her would be to replace the gas fireplace with a wood or
> pellet stove. And that is probably her best choice, even though it
> would require installing a new chimney ( the gas fireplace is vented
> through the wall and the height is considerably below the roof top).
> But she has decided against that.
> If anyone built a heat pump that was just intended for heating ( that
> is no way to use it for air conditioning ) that would work well.
> There is no great need for air conditioning for a beach house on Puget
> Sound. But I do not know of any.
> So the question is what are the major differences between a window
> heat pump and a window air conditioner? Besides the obvious things as
> the reversing valves.
> Could one buy a used window air conditioner and installing it
> backwards be at all feasible. One would have to short out the
> thermostat in the air conditioner and install a thermostat inside the
> cottage wired to an outlet. And one might have to use a timer so it
> would not run long enough to ice up the evaporator. And it would not
> be useful when it was really cold. But there is a large portion of
> the year where the temperature is about 50 to 55 F. Not comfortable
> without some heat, but not a lot of heat needed.
> Used air conditioners in the PNW are very cheap. In the range of $30
> to $50 for a almost new 5000 btu to 10,000 btu window unit. Almost as
> cheap as an electric resistance heater. So there is no concern about
> having a guarantee.
> Dan