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SynbiosVyse t1_izxkno8 wrote

Reply to comment by mp246 in Holy $#!^ Eversource by Xaphas

They are bad in cold weather. You can't argue the physics of it. If you look at the efficiency curves the top of the line Bosch drops to 50% efficiency below freezing. I'm not sure what variables you speak about, this is a fairly controlled experiment. Mini splits are about 30% more efficient than central heat pumps so I could see those being more desirable. I think the longstanding conception that heat pumps suck below freezing is true. It's blowing cold air for first 15-20 minutes of the cycle and never really gets up to the temp that the furnace did. It needs to run for a long time just to raise one degree. I understand they're designed to run more frequently than a furnace for more air circulation but it's using more electricity as a result with the condenser and fan running. It's just a stupid appliance unless you have solar or cheap electricity. I don't see how anyone is expected to save money with this thing.

For clarification it was $150 on top of average electricity bill so approximate cost just to run heat pump.

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mp246 t1_izxm2ql wrote

>They are bad in cold weather. You can't argue the physics of it. If you look at the efficiency curves the top of the line Bosch drops to 50% efficiency below freezing.

you really don't know what you're talking about. i can't find a bosh specific chart, but modern heat pumps can be ~200% efficient at 0F. and i'm talking about efficiency in the sense of units of energy in = units of energy out, not in a sense of dollars per BTU or whatever

>I'm not sure what variables you speak about, this is a fairly controlled experiment.

you really, really don't know what you're talking about.

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SynbiosVyse t1_izxscp8 wrote

The marketing of COP (coefficient of performance) being greater than 1 for heat pumps is exactly the kind of marketing they want you to believe as being important. COP is a good way to compare heat pumps to other heat pumps, since standard energy-in/energy-out doesn't make sense. If you're talking about relative efficiency, central heat pumps are going to drop to about 50% in terms of the amount of electrical power they use for the amount of heat they produce. For example, if it uses 2 KWh to raise 1 degree from 54 to 55 F, it will use 4 KWh to raise 1 degree from 10 to 11. Because of this sharp decrease in efficiency you're going to be paying up the nose in electricty compared to a furnace or boiler which efficiency curve is completely agnostic to the temperature outside.

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mp246 t1_izxu5y8 wrote

everybody already knows it takes more energy to heat something as it gets colder and colder outside dude. and you still don't understand the difference between relative efficiency and absolute efficiency, you keep mixing them up, and then on top you that you mention absolute costs when i specifically called out the difference in the previous post.

when you talk about your gas boiler vs your heat pump, what does it cost you, in terms of dollars, to get 1 degree of rise out of each? post that, along with the manual j for the respective heating zones, and then we can start to get a rough idea of what is more efficient in terms of absolute costs. until then, you're just talking out of your ass

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