this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
35 points (94.9% liked)
Hacker News
1770 readers
1 users here now
This community serves to share top posts on Hacker News with the wider fediverse.
Rules
0. Keep it legal
- Keep it civil and SFW
- Keep it safe for members of marginalised groups
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Science proves otherwise...in cold enough temps the heat pump is literally useless and you will need a backup source like electric dor gas/bio fuel.
Sitting up here in the Alps, winter approaching, laughing at your two-decades-out-of-date ignorance π
Saving power for even a few extra months still saves money. You can have both a heat pump and a normal gas furnace. They aren't even that expensive. If you have a high heating bill, it could pay itself off in a few years.
I live in NC where a very cold day is +20F and I have to say I do not feel my heat pump keeps my house very warm. Maybe l just have a very high expectation of what a warm house feels like, but based purely on comfort I would not pick a heat pump. My house is only about 7 years old, so maybe the technology has improved since then?
I will say, it is unseasonably cold the last few days (40's) and my house is comfortably warm. But I cannot imagine going days sub freezing and the heat pump keeping up. But I am a spoiled American.
Is your house insulated? Do you have modern windows?
Yes to both.
Nothing to do with the heat pump, everything to do with building standards over to last couple of decades
Are you saying it struggles to meet the temp set on the thermostat, or that you/your spouse sets the thermostat too low?
I am saying the heat pump struggles to keep up with the temp on the thermostat. It runs constantly and cannot maintain the ~70 we have the thermostat set too.
itβs just physics, and at sub-zero temperatures the air heat pump simply switches to electricity itβs another matter if your pump uses the ground or a well, then of course it will work at any outside temperature
I Should have been more specific about air source..but yes
Physics isn't wrong. Ground source is better, but air source won't keep up with multiple days of sub temps