My heat pump is at least 20 years old. We light the log burner at night and let it die down. I don't think they are efficient in a frost?
lythande1,
Jul 14, 9:02am
They can stutter on starting in frost, why would you care when you have the best thing - the woodburner?
loose.unit8,
Jul 14, 9:14am
Depends on whether it's designed for those conditions. Some work great down past -10c. Some don't like 5c.
trade4us2,
Jul 14, 10:16am
Of course everybody living in cold places (e.g.south of Auckland) should have a ground source heat pump, and that will keep working when it's freezing. But the "experts" will not tell you that, or the owners will ignore my advice as usual.
tweake,
Jul 14, 10:19am
afaik ground source heat pumps are horrendously expensive to install and repair.
trade4us2,
Jul 14, 12:29pm
However any other kind of heat pump is useless if the temperature is near freezing. So you may as well used ordinary heaters that cost around $20 to buy, instead of heat pumps that cost thousands of dollars to buy and install. Why are heat pump installers so ignorant about that?
r.g.nixon,
Jul 14, 12:33pm
They aren't. The customer doesn't want to pay thousands extra.
tweake,
Jul 14, 1:03pm
might be ok during construction when you have a digger on site, but to retrofit most homes would be very difficult. even getting access with a digger, digging up pathways, gardens etc.
and defrost mode is really only a problem if the climate is consistently in that temp range. so its not a huge problem.
trade4us2,
Jul 14, 4:49pm
I dug the trench with a spade for my power and water and phone. Later I dug the trench for the stormwater drainage for my new garage, then I dug a trench for the CCTV and another for the fibre cable. It's not hard to bury some pipes in the garden.
gsimpson,
Jul 14, 4:58pm
They will work fine at low temp. Yesterday it was -3degC but didn't even have to scrape the ice off the windscreen there was so little moisture in the air.
planespotterhvn,
Jul 14, 7:14pm
Heat pumps have trouble in the +6 to zero deg C range. as the moisture in the air condenses on the external evaporator coils and frosts them up. But below this temperature all the atmospheric moisture is frozen to the ground and the air to air heatpump will work just fine as there is no moisture to freeze and needing to defrost. Many Heatpumps come with a 2C rating which is the kilowatt heating that can be expected at +2deg C. Some do not show this rating. Problem for Canterbury is that winter temperatures are often in the difficult temperature band of 0 degrees to + 6degrees.
gpg58,
Jul 14, 7:27pm
absolute total and utter bollicks, kindly post any engineering data, that even remotely supports your statement. (Agree ground source can be more efficient, but making such an absurd statement needs correction).
Any decent quality brand will give way more than one to one, cost of performance, at below zero degrees, that is why in nz, out units are designed for -10 degs operation(and will still be doing better than that, at that low). Sure junk Chinese brands, turn off before zero, and fault code in manuals says, too cold, turn other heating, but only an idiot buys those cheap crap. Are you not aware of some markets getting heat pumps that operate efficiently down to -25c?
Google's first find example - https://www.arcticheatpumps.com/ At 0 C our heat pumps have a COP of 3.5. This means that for every 1 Kw of input power you can produce 3.5 Kw of Heating energy, reducing your heating bill by 70%!
I think others have just repeated near enough what I have said. However since I never need a heat pump in my nice warm house, suit yourself. Don't complain about the cost to buy your heat pump and to fix it all the time and to run it. My electric heating bill for the whole year will be under $300.
gabbysnana,
Jul 14, 8:48pm
Havent had any problem with my 8kw lg, its 6 years old, a couple of times the outside unit has flashed over, I just hose it down when that happens. It costs me $50 a month extra for the 4 months.
gpg58,
Jul 14, 9:14pm
Does repeating false statements eventually mean they become true? - only in fantasy land! Fixing it all the time? you really are deluded. Fixing heat pumps and installing is my trade, and am telling you failure rate(as in, made a warranty claim, some very minor) on the brand i deal with, is below 1 in 200 over 5 year warranty, but hey if you get off on believing your own bullshit, whatever dud. Clearly you have zero facts to support your statements, unless you are only specifically referring to the cheap chinese crap already mentioned.
kevymtnz,
Jul 14, 9:50pm
south of Auckland lol idiot Tauranga avg year temp is better than dorkland
trade4us2,
Jul 14, 10:00pm
The heat pump in the staffroom at work seldom works properly. My two neighbours have noisy heat pumps outside. They keep people awake. Other people that I know have higher power bills because of their heat pumps. There are about 350 separate threads discussing heat pumps on this message board.
gpg58,
Jul 14, 10:19pm
trade4us2 wrote: The heat pump in the staffroom at work seldom works properly. =? has it got a gas leak due to poor skills of installer, undersized, or is it cheap crap.
My two neighbours have noisy heat pumps outside. They keep people awake. =? Cheap junk or bad choice of size, or location - too small = always at full power, - location = there are some places no sensible installer would put one (near bedroom windows etc).
Other people that I know have higher power bills because of their heat pumps, =? higher power bills only, or higher winter heating energy cost (including wood etc -free dosn't count - for most). And then there fools who turn them off, instead of down(exceptions being too drafty/heat leaking, to retain heat, at compressor moderate speed).
There are about 350 separate threads discussing heat pumps on this message board. = ? So what. How many threads are there on cars, should we all give up driving? How many on pets, crikey better not get one then, etc.
quotes's as above.
pleco,
Jul 15, 5:59am
We had a heat pump installed a couple of weeks ago and the installer said they last about 15 years so perhaps it is time for a new one?
johotech,
Jul 15, 10:32am
You have to keep in mind that some posters live in an alternate reality. So it's generally easier to just ignore them.
elect70,
Jul 15, 12:59pm
I have an old "Carrier " Hp at least 30 years old& all origonal , before wi fi remotes & it still heats when its -5 outside though defrosts about every hour .Took it out of last house& reintstalled in present house 15 years ago better made than todays . . I was in the trade for 35 years
ira78,
Jul 15, 1:03pm
Also keep in mind many people go from spending $200/month on wood, get a heat pump, try to overheat their house to 28° all winter and complain about their power bill going up $200/month.
gabbysnana,
Jul 15, 2:45pm
you couldnt breathe in a house at 28 degrees. Mine has a jet mode for 30 minutes where it heats the house to 30 degrees, never gets there, around 21 at the pump is good, gives me 24 in the whole house.
trade4us2,
Jul 15, 3:22pm
I spend about $60 each winter month on power for heating, and have not bought any heaters for years because they are very reliable and cost about #20 each when new. People with heat pumps are in some kind of alternate reality.
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