Heat Pump Savings?

Posted by Tony on October 17, 2009, 5:12 pm

I have electric hot air heat and I am wondering how much I can expect
save with a heat pump? Eastern TN, almost in the Smokies and the North
Carolina border. Elevation about 1650'. It's around 15 degrees warmer
on the west side of the smokies where I am than compared to the NC side.

I've managed to keep the electric bill below $115 most of the winters
when I turn down the central heat to 55-60 and use a small portable
electric heater in the room I am using. I would like to heat the whole
house to 68F. using a heat pump. I figure the heating portion of the
electric bill is about $75-$90. How much would that be with a heat
pump? If my rough figures are anywhere near accurate, it looks like I
won't break even for 15 to 20 years and that is without heating the
whole house to 68F.

Posted by dpb on October 17, 2009, 6:14 pm

Tony wrote:

> I have electric hot air heat and I am wondering how much I can expect
> save with a heat pump? Eastern TN, almost in the Smokies and the North
> Carolina border. Elevation about 1650'. It's around 15 degrees warmer
> on the west side of the smokies where I am than compared to the NC side.
>
> I've managed to keep the electric bill below $115 most of the winters
> when I turn down the central heat to 55-60 and use a small portable
> electric heater in the room I am using. I would like to heat the whole
> house to 68F. using a heat pump. I figure the heating portion of the
> electric bill is about $75-$90. How much would that be with a heat
> pump? If my rough figures are anywhere near accurate, it looks like I
> won't break even for 15 to 20 years and that is without heating the
> whole house to 68F.

When in Oak Ridge we replaced the original air-exchange heat pump w/ a
ground-loop and cut _that_ electric usage by almost 2/3-rds.

Air-exchange heat pumps have improved, but imo they're still very
marginal in E TN, especially as you go up in elevation (we were much
nearer 1000 ft where we were). Are you still on TVA or not may have
much to do w/ rates.

Need somebody to do good heat load calculation for specific dwelling and
unit(s) to really tell; it all depends on how good the estimates of heat
loss are and they're dependent on specifics.

--

Posted by Tony on October 19, 2009, 11:29 am

dpb wrote:

> Tony wrote:

>> I have electric hot air heat and I am wondering how much I can expect
>> save with a heat pump? Eastern TN, almost in the Smokies and the
>> North Carolina border. Elevation about 1650'. It's around 15 degrees
>> warmer on the west side of the smokies where I am than compared to the
>> NC side.
>> I've managed to keep the electric bill below $115 most of the winters
>> when I turn down the central heat to 55-60 and use a small portable
>> electric heater in the room I am using. I would like to heat the
>> whole house to 68F. using a heat pump. I figure the heating portion
>> of the electric bill is about $75-$90. How much would that be with a
>> heat pump? If my rough figures are anywhere near accurate, it looks
>> like I won't break even for 15 to 20 years and that is without heating
>> the whole house to 68F.

>
> When in Oak Ridge we replaced the original air-exchange heat pump w/ a
> ground-loop and cut _that_ electric usage by almost 2/3-rds.
>
> Air-exchange heat pumps have improved, but imo they're still very
> marginal in E TN, especially as you go up in elevation (we were much
> nearer 1000 ft where we were). Are you still on TVA or not may have
> much to do w/ rates.

Thanks, I think I'm indirectly on TVA. I'm outside of Newport but my
power company is Newport Utilities. I believe they get their power from
the TVA. As far as the weather here, it's a little warmer than where I
was in PA and lot's of people had heat pumps up there. Now this is way
below normal, but last night I had a low of 33F, average low for last
night is 46F.

Posted by Art Todesco on October 17, 2009, 6:28 pm

Tony wrote:

I just built a house on the NC side near
Franklin. I have a high efficiency
(16SEER) 2 stage heat pump/AC unit. Our
last month electric bill ran $73.
That included AC and a little heat at
the end. We ran the AC even thought
is wasn't too warm out, mostly to bring
down the humidity. A heat pump
can give you several times the heat
output for the same amount of electricity
as straight resistance heat .
BTW, this morning it was 45 degrees and
for the 1st time, the 2nd stage
heat pump kicked in during a few cycles.
My backup, when it gets too
cold for the heat pump, is a propane
furnace.

Posted by on October 18, 2009, 8:20 am

> Tony wrote:

> > I have electric hot air heat and I am wondering how much I can expect
> > save with a heat pump? =A0Eastern TN, almost in the Smokies and the Nor=

> > Carolina border. =A0Elevation about 1650'. =A0It's around 15 degrees wa=

rmer

> > on the west side of the smokies where I am than compared to the NC side=

> > I've managed to keep the electric bill below $115 most of the winters
> > when I turn down the central heat to 55-60 and use a small portable
> > electric heater in the room I am using. =A0I would like to heat the who=

> > house to 68F. using a heat pump. =A0I figure the heating portion of the
> > electric bill is about $75-$90. =A0How much would that be with a heat
> > pump? =A0If my rough figures are anywhere near accurate, it looks like =

> > won't break even for 15 to 20 years and that is without heating the
> > whole house to 68F.

> I just built a house on the NC side near
> Franklin. =A0I have a high efficiency
> (16SEER) 2 stage heat pump/AC unit. =A0Our
> last month electric bill ran $73.
> That included AC and a little heat at
> the end. =A0We ran the AC even thought
> is wasn't too warm out, mostly to bring
> down the humidity. =A0A heat pump
> can give you several times the heat
> output for the same amount of electricity
> as straight resistance heat .
> BTW, this morning it was 45 degrees and
> for the 1st time, the 2nd stage
> heat pump kicked in during a few cycles.
> =A0 My backup, when it gets too
> cold for the heat pump, is a propane
> furnace.

Agree with the above. I also don't see why the extra cost of a
ground source heat pump compared to air would be worth it in Tenn. I
would think that climate is moderate enough that you would have to use
a lot of heating/cooling for it to come out ahead. If you were in VT
it would be a different story.

Whether switching to any heat pump is worth it is questionable given
your low existing bills. However, if you were heating the whole
house to a higher temp, then it could start to make sense.

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