Heat Pump and power consumption

   / Heat Pump and power consumption #11  
Probably so, but at what cost? The Heat Pump may run for 20 minutes vs the furnace may run 5 minutes on propane for the same result.

alot of variable to even remotely accurately answer that question
 
   / Heat Pump and power consumption #12  
For me anyway, the propane backup makes sense during power outages. I can fire up my portable generator and run just the inside unit on 120v and switch to emergency heat and just run on propane. You have to have a really large generator to run the heat pump.
 
   / Heat Pump and power consumption #13  
If all environmental things are equal and the heat pump is now running longer my first thought is that it it’s low on refrigerant. You will need to have it tested for leaks and topped off to bring the efficiency back.
 
   / Heat Pump and power consumption #14  
these comments need to be watched, some heat pumps now are efficient down to -5F, they most certainly are still putting out heat at 30F

That would be the "Ductless Mini split" system(s). :thumbsup:
Very different from the typical central "ducted" heat pump commonly installed for the past 20+ years.
 
   / Heat Pump and power consumption #15  
I have one mini split @10 deg. my mini split was putting out 114 deg air. No elect. heat strips needed !

When it's "full on" winter up here, I heat with a wood boiler & radiant heat. BUT we just put a small addition on and put a "2 head" mini split system in, primarily for A/C. Just for kicks the other day, (it was about 8*) I switched one unit on, it was throwing out hot air!
I'm not sure I would rely as a h/p in our climate without a backup, but that's just a guess on my part. Anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line I think that they are the way to go!
 
   / Heat Pump and power consumption #16  
The OP doesn't list his super-secret location. ???

I track my usage by reading the meter everyday at the same time (when I feed my outside cats) and log it.
I take my bill and divide kw used by total of bill. I average $.12 a kw. I can calculate daily cost. It's a hobby.
My usage is up and down, just like the weather!
 
   / Heat Pump and power consumption #17  
Installed a new Trane heat pump in Dec. 2016. Thermostat is set to 72 and the heat pump can maintain this temp without aux. heat strips kicking in down to around 15. 2 1/2 ton system and 1400 sq. foot house. Used to lockout old heat pump compressor at 10 degrees. Has been down to 0 recently and still left compressor energized as was still producing usable heat. Read recently that heat pumps produced in last few years have made lots of advancement in extracting warm air from frigid air that was not possible several years ago.
 
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   / Heat Pump and power consumption
  • Thread Starter
#19  
I track my usage by reading the meter everyday at the same time (when I feed my outside cats) and log it.
I take my bill and divide kw used by total of bill. I average $.12 a kw. I can calculate daily cost. It's a hobby.
My usage is up and down, just like the weather!

I do, or did, the same for a good while. I was able to pull up my somewhat out of date spreadsheet and do some comparisons to past winters, including heating degree days and prior consumption. If I hadn't slacked off on reading the meter, I would have known exactly when this issue started. Instead, I got a shock from the bill we received yesterday. Which had a meter reading date of 8 days ago. Add a couple more days to get the issue identified/fixed and it looks like the next bill is going to be pretty high too.

After watching things over the past ~26 hours, I think there's something wonky with the defrost cycle on the heat pump. My meter shows 172 kwh used over the past 26.6 hours. The temp during this time ranged from 37F to 24F. That temp range is not unusual for us, but that power consumption is way high for us - like 2x-3x compared to prior Januaries. I checked the meter 9 times today and didn't see anything that seemed high except when a defrost cycle was going. At that time, it was pulling about 20kw. I watched one defrost cycle and it took about five minutes. I think I heard it go into defrost 3 times in about an hour. The heat strips are definitely coming on during the defrost, but I don't think they're coming on to assist the heat pump in maintaining temp in the house.

I'll call someone in the morning to come take a look at it.
 
   / Heat Pump and power consumption #20  
Did someone do a load of clothes in the dryer?? Or Bake something?
Have to cover all possibilities.
 
 
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