Heat Pumps vs Gas Furnaces

[Naperville]

I do not like it below 65F or above 82F indoors. I never lived that way before. And I understand, everyone is different.

I could have lengthened that subject to include Steam, Coal, Water, there are a number of systems used to heat a home. I'm barely scratching the subject.

As far as I know I have had the luxury of having natural gas furnaces my entire life. I was spoiled by the best heating technology available for 65 years. For a while I did attend the Illinois Institute of Technology and they had steam or hot water. Ancient junk. It's 2026 folks and I swear to you, natural gas furnaces are the way to go. Forget heat pumps!

When I am too cold or too hot, I always feel like throwing on a Winter jacket or stripping down to my boxers.

Now I am in Kentucky and they have heat pumps. I know very little about all of these technologies and even less about heat pumps. Bahhhhhhhh humbug!

I never felt cold in a home heated with natural gas and a gas furnace. My new apartment is always cold and I dare not turn up the thermostat or I can imagine what the bill will be. I think that I have it set to 69F to 70F, which would be more than enough to heat our home in North Central Illinois.

The heat pump is (to me) a mass air exchange system, dumping less warm air outside, and man-o-man is it noisy!!! At first I thought somebody had inadvertently turned on an air conditioning unit in an empty apartment in the dead of Winter, and the unit was clanging away at 1am. VROOOOOOOOM CLANG CLANG CLANG VROOOOOOOOOM. What the heck!

[shunsui]

I looked at heat pumps for heating and it seems they are better at cooling than heating.

I use a DeLonghi Oil Filled electric heater in a studio apt. Keep it on low, very quiet.
https://www.amazon.com/DeLonghi-Comfort ... 000TGDGLU/

[Red Leader]

I work in HVAC, although I'm more on the commercial side. Still, I'm on the distributor end, so some of what I do, including a lot of tech support, includes a lot of support for residential equipment.

Heat pumps in general have a different BTU scaling than furnaces. For example, you might have a 80K btu furnace in your home, which is sort of a medium size, but rarely will you see the largest of the large res heat pumps over 5 ton (60k). The type of heat is usually a lower differential than a furnace (think 68 deg in, 90 deg out) versus a furnace which normally has a heat rise of 35-70F (i.e. 68 deg going in 120 deg out). Being used to a furnace and then going to a heat pump can often be a shock for people, especially if they were used to a single stage furnace. The heat is lower and slower, with longer run cycles. It's not necessarily bad, just different.

They are common in more moderate climates, but are gaining traction in climates with more extreme temperature ranges. With the advent of inverter driven technology, this can make heat pumps more efficient and work better in lower temperatures, but what people can often forget is that the more you need it (the colder it gets), the less efficient it becomes, to the point where you may need auxiliary type heat - either a furnace or heat strips. If it is a heat strip, be prepared for $$$$$$$. One of the biggest misconceptions we see is that folks will pay major money (think $25-35k) for the latest and greatest and expect their energy bills to go down, and they do not. Sometimes, they will even increase. Electricity can be extremely expensive. Instead of just electricity powering an indoor fan, now it is powering a compressor, outdoor fan, indoor fan, and possibly heat strips. You may be more efficient, but it might still be more expensive.

If you have just a regular, non-inverter heat pump (think 'AC unit' just with a reversing valve and piston), then you don't really gain a lot of efficiency and performance quickly dies off as temps go down.

One of our master techs has a fancy heat pump + modulating furnace. Depending on the electricity costs vs natural gas costs, he will choose to run either one or the other.

The technology around this equipment is getting very advanced and continues to make things more efficient. But hardly anyone thinks about the cost to replace an inverter when it goes bad. That level of tech can get expensive really quick.

[Naperville]

My hands are cold. I'll either sit on them or stick them in the freezer to warm them up.




You folks are great. Always a lot of knowledge here on this forum. I'll just wear a light insulating jacket through the Winters here. I had never considered my move, a 6 hour drive to the South would have any issues with Winter.

Another observation is that my city has 4 snow plows. It has taken them 2+ weeks to dig out from 4 inches of snow. There are cars stuck in lots all over the city, and they are still digging out.

They are very very polite and accommodating here. It is nothing short of amazing. The staff at the DMV allowed me to call my apartment complex and have them email a copy of my signed lease, which took 5 minutes to arrive!!! That is unheard of where I am from.

Overall, I am in a better place than I was.

[silver & black]

My boss has a heat pump. He lives in a neighborhood that was built in the 70's by one builder. The whole neighborhood is electric only, no natural gas. He doesn't mind the all electric until Winter. He says it just never feels warm in his house. He installed a wood burner and burns wood all Winter. I have always had Natural gas heat. I don't think I would ever try anything else. I keep my house at 68 - 69 all Winter. It's plenty comfortable. When the temp is really cold, (teens) I just put on more clothes...lol.

[Naperville]

My boss has a heat pump. He lives in a neighborhood that was built in the 70's by one builder. The whole neighborhood is electric only, no natural gas. He doesn't mind the all electric until Winter. He says it just never feels warm in his house. He installed a wood burner and burns wood all Winter. I have always had Natural gas heat. I don't think I would ever try anything else. I keep my house at 68 - 69 all Winter. It's plenty comfortable. When the temp is really cold, (teens) I just put on more clothes...lol.

That is the way my family lived for the 65 years I've been alive. But we only put on sweaters or light jackets when it was below zero outside, otherwise the gas furnace kept up just fine.

My problem with the heat pump is, it is cold inside the apartment when it is 30F to 35F outside. I never feel warm unless I have on a heavy Winter coat.

[ChrisinHove]

I see quite a few air source heat pumps now, only a few ground source, and yet to see a water source heat pump despite living on the coast. All feed wet heating systems i.e. moderate temperature room radiators.

My view is that they are reasonably suited for *very* highly insulated homes, generally meaning new-build, father than retro-fit (particularly for our old housing stock, where expenditure on improving insulation etc is money much better spent).

Where I think they are under-utilised is in air-air room systems where they can provide both back -up / ancillary heating *and* summer cooling. With soaring summer temperatures in places, the latter could literally be life saving.