Heat Pump Fun

Our house is heated (and cooled) with heat pumps. With any luck, yours isn't.

They are very energy efficient. What that means is that even though we are in the mild winter of S.C., we are cold. I think they should be called "cold pumps."

You engineer-types already know how they work and why that is. The rest of you really aren't all that interested, and the only reason I'm interested is because not only am I cold, I'm going to stay that way for a while.

When the temperatures don't get much above freezing for several days, ice accumulates on the outdoor heat pump unit, and guess what? It don't work. Oh, it runs, and the little heat strip that will make your electric consumption meter spin will kick on in "emergency" mode, but you don't want to spend many days with that sucker heating your house.

So what do you have to do? Why, run the air conditioner, so whatever heat is in your house will be sucked out and will thaw out your heat pump in the process.

It's freezing cold outside and we're running the air conditioning. After we thaw out the heat pump, we can turn it to heat again, and then be merely cold instead of really cold.

By the way, we get a break in our energy costs from the electric utility for all the energy efficient things we built into our house. Comfort isn't one of them.

Comments

[Nancy]

"Cold pumps"--you got that right.

[Lynn]

I am SO impressed that you do two blogs. I can't believe that somebody I like so much is a Republican. We have GOT to get together somewhere somehow.
Love,
Lynn

[DM]

We don;t have a heat pump but I have worked on a couple of new homes that were getting them installed....I've always been a little skeptical about them becasue here in the Midwest, they install 2 electric meters...one for the heat pump system and the second for the rest of the electrical consumption..I was told they bill out the electrical usage for the heat pumps at a large discounted rate (here in the Midwest)...I'm thinking to myself...that's fine for now, but if they electric company decides to change their policies..and the heat pump is your primary source of heating and cooling, you are in for one heck of an electric bill..reading your post tonight just clinched it for me :-)..I will NEVER get a heat pump, even if they would give me one for free..and...I know would never happen..they aren't cheap to install either....