50+ thread

My current house is all electric, it's a split level rancher. I'm in the Mid-Atlantic region. It does a good job spring, summer and fall. Any temps below 40° will have the emergency/backup electric grids kick on. The house always felt chilly and the furnace was constantly running. I had to supplement heat in rooms with portable oil filled electric radiators. I installed a wood stove in the lower level last year and never looked back. I can heat the floors with the rising heat from the stove and last year I installed a register on a return duct so that I could run the circulation fan and draw the warm air from downstairs and move it through the duct work. I've had a tech look at the unit, I was tld that even though the syste is 20 years old it was still running as good as it could, the issue is that the heat pumps were never designed for temps below 45°.

This.

 

I had no idea that the cats would yammer while driving, I would have thought that they'd be curled up in the back of their transport cages, planning your capture and their escape when you make the 1st fuel stop.

 

Where was your other hand?

 

Their yammering is deciding the order of who gets to pick which part of Marty gets eaten first.

 

Good afternoon !!

Just got done with my at home Healthcare PT session . My home care Nurse is very impressed on my rehabilitation progress . The nurse told me that for only being 5 weeks post op and now walking without using the walker or cane is awesome

 

Great news!

 

There’s always 1 or 2 that fuss the whole ride. I’ve had a thug in the front crate before that would reach through the crate and pull on my hat and shoulders. Cats are always fun!

 

I'm telling you, you work here

https://youtu.be/jsLUidiYm0w

 

Yesterday morning it was 26`. It warmed to 54`and started raining. The air temp was warmer than the ground temp. F.O.G

Still raining (drizzle) foggy, and dreary.
Being retired and not a part of rush hour traffic is so sweet at times like this

 

IMHO Heat Pumps suck. If you lived in a mild climate area like Florida, they might be okay. But you'd never feel warm in NH with a heat pump.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. The system I talked to them about was a Mitsubishi “Hyper” heat which is rated to provide heat down to -13°. That would cover most days in my area of NH, but most of you said it never really felt ‘warm’, course I keep the house about 65 in colder months, and I currently have hydronic baseboard, so not sure how it would compare to that warmth wise, and I feel now that my house can sometimes not feel warm, then other times it seems hot…. Course then there’s the age factor . And with oil currently over $5.00/gal, and I use about 700+ gals/year…ugh

Then as far as cooling, I’ve been using 4 window ac units and I got one electric bill in August over $300!! Eversource is putting the screws to us in NH this year with rate increases. We’re at $.22 per kWh now! I hear those mini split heat pumps can run 40-50% cheaper. Plus the convenience of not having to lug ac units around and in and out crap.
Lastly is the cost, those things ain’t cheap , so payback would be in the 8-12 year range, depending on oil and electricity costs.

I don’t know if I’ve talked myself out of it or into it. Geesh.

 

We have one to go with a propane furnace. Ours is set at 35 degrees, so when it hits that temp the propane furnace kicks on. The heat pump does not put out a hot air but it suffices.

 

Hey Tom,

What is the anticipated payback on the Solar? What is the anticipated cost savings during season/s of optimal performance on your new system? I would factor these in to help me decide if now is the time to upgrade or not. If Solar reduces cost of cooling, then a few years of lugging A/C’s around and banking the savings to offset the oil or even put together a down payment on the new heat pump might be worth it. Just thinking…

 

Hmm, interesting. Payback for the solar is a moving target, but right now between 10.5 and 11.2 years. I will be generating over 153% of my avg yearly usage, and Evers$ounce is required by NH law to buy it back (although at a rate less than what they sell it for). Other than January and February I should be generating more than I use.

 

I’ve gave a heat pump a quick thought . I’m almost 68 so I’ll be long gone by the time it pays off. I use oil heat and paid $5.04 a gallon. I used 473 gallons last year. Oh well at least when I turn up the heat I get instant warmth.