Snarley Bill Posted January 25, 2009 Share #26 Posted January 25, 2009 my brother inlaw had a heat pump and the one thing i noticed was we froze our butts off when it kicked on. it only put out luke warm air to maintain the temperature and created a mild draft that felt like a fan was running. no hot air like a forced air furnace. i'm used to kick butt heat when i want it. nothing wrong with electric for clean safe heat mostly with the price of propane on the rise. bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venturous Randy Posted January 26, 2009 Share #27 Posted January 26, 2009 This past summer our heat pump was struck by lightening and took out a compressor I had installed about eight months earlier. We had an old sear 10 unit that also blew barely warm air when running, unless we were on emergency heat for some reason. When the heat pump was struck, my homeowners insurance replaced both the outside and inside units with the new 410A (I think)stuff and it is now a sear 14 rating. Now the air coming out of the vents with it 30 degrees outside feels as warm as the emergency heat used to feel with the old system. RandyA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Posted January 26, 2009 Share #28 Posted January 26, 2009 You can put a elc. unit right in the plenium of your gas fernis. It is a coil that fits in your fernis. then put it on off peak. runs cheep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidh2 Posted January 26, 2009 Share #29 Posted January 26, 2009 I should have given more info in my first post. I already have an air source heat pump and it is great. I got a quote last year for putting in a Geo Thermal system and it was no cost effective. I now have a very high efficient propane furnace for backup to the heat pump when it is too cold for the heat pump to work. The problem is, for these extra cold winters like we are having this year, there are a LOT of days and nights when the system has to swap to the propane. Installing geo thermal would cost me about $10,000.00. Due to the high efficiency of my current system, payback would take about 12 years. Life expectancy on the geo thermal system is just a year or too longer than that so it just makes no sense. I have a forced air central system and was thinking of just replacing the propane backup furnace with electric. Based upon the current price of propane and electricity, it should be considerably cheaper and the initial cost shouldn't be very high. I'll just have to look into it a bit further. The only questions are will propane stay high and will my electricity stay low. Don,It all depends on your utility provider and what source is used to produce electricity (hydro/coal/natural gas). Living in southern Louisiana all of our electricity is produced from natural gas so as oil and gas prices go up, so do the utility bills with the pass through. My house is unfortunately total electric. The developer never ran a natural gas line when the area was being developed. I live in a 2100 sq ft house with and above ground pool and hot tub. In the winter which is very mild my heater is set on 63 and rarely comes on and the electric bill averages around $150-200. In the peak of summer with everything running including the a/c my electric bill averages $425-475. Do your research and calculate your payback before investing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin-vic-b.c. Posted January 26, 2009 Share #30 Posted January 26, 2009 Ok... 18 years in the heating trade... take it or leave it...... If you save a couple dollars this year with a new electric system then maybe next year the prices change and you are back to even or behind. IF you have a good quality propane furnace... up here we use natural gas.... then switching to electric will be a band-aid at best. Like I often hear when the price of gas goes up... it will cost you an extra $0.50 to fill a tank...ouch... but then the price goes down again....even ! Take the money you THINK you may save over the next 5-10 years and INVEST it in your home. High insulation windows... doors... energy star apliances.... low energy light fixtures..... etc etc etc..... This WILL save you money, hoping a new furnace will save you money is a way too big of gamble. Energy costs are going up, it will not matter what fuel you are using..... learn to use less. I have a 94% efficiant natural gas furnace in my home, along with a good programable thermostat. Control the house temprature set back at night and when you are at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol Erns Posted January 26, 2009 Share #31 Posted January 26, 2009 I run both electric and propane. Electric is off-peak at .026 KW. I have a split level home and we put the propane (took out the wood furnace) in when we bought the home and our kids were small. Years later it's only Mom and I and we run mainly the electric. My summer electric bill with an outdoor hot-tub runs around 75 bucks. The hot tub adds about 40-50 bucks a month during the winter months. Heating our home adds an additional 50-75 each month. December was $175.00. This month we've had two cold spells 25-35 below 0 for lows so I am expecting 200-225 this month. When we mainly ran propane it was about 200 a month just for the propane. Just a note though, as dangerous and as much work as it was, wood heat was wonderful. 30 below outside and your walking around in the house in shorts and a t-shirt AND it was a constant heat.......no varying temperatures between the propane furance kicking on and off..........but I also spent many many hours, cutting, splitting, stacking and hauling wood. Just my .02 worth. Erns PS By the way.........currently 15 below, almost t-shirt and shorts weather!!!:rotf: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share #32 Posted January 26, 2009 You can put a elc. unit right in the plenium of your gas fernis. It is a coil that fits in your fernis. then put it on off peak. runs cheep. This would be a good solution. I've wondering if there is something like that that I can install and then be able to switch between propane and electric as necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share #33 Posted January 26, 2009 Ok... 18 years in the heating trade... take it or leave it...... If you save a couple dollars this year with a new electric system then maybe next year the prices change and you are back to even or behind. IF you have a good quality propane furnace... up here we use natural gas.... then switching to electric will be a band-aid at best. Like I often hear when the price of gas goes up... it will cost you an extra $0.50 to fill a tank...ouch... but then the price goes down again....even ! Take the money you THINK you may save over the next 5-10 years and INVEST it in your home. High insulation windows... doors... energy star apliances.... low energy light fixtures..... etc etc etc..... This WILL save you money, hoping a new furnace will save you money is a way too big of gamble. Energy costs are going up, it will not matter what fuel you are using..... learn to use less. I have a 94% efficiant natural gas furnace in my home, along with a good programable thermostat. Control the house temprature set back at night and when you are at work. I understand what you are saying and appreciate the response. Right now though, the difference is more than a little bit. It would be great if I could install the electric coils and be able to switch back and forth between electric and propane for the backup to my heat pump. The house is pretty well insulated with good windows and doors also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnyButch Posted January 26, 2009 Share #34 Posted January 26, 2009 http://www.freewatt.com/products.asp?id=169&name=WAir Have you seen these systems? They generate electrictiy and use the heat by product to heat your home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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