Creating a Workshop & Home

[EddieWalker]

The AC guy just left. I've got 1,300 sq ft total to heat and cool on two stories. He said normally they put in a seperate system for a second story, but since it is so small, it would be a waste of money.

It will be powered by electricity. No choice there. But I have two options on heating. A heat pump and conventional electric heater. He said the heat pump would pay for itself in savings over three years.

Here, you only need a heater for two months ouf of the year. This seems like very litte use to make up the cost in three years.

Anybody have a heat pump? Any advice or suggestions?

I'm also do not planning on living in this place for very long. Maybe a couple years at the most. If it's longer then that, I've failed miserably on building the park. If that happens, I'm sellling the land and wont have to worry about it anyway.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Tim_in_IA]

Eddie, the heat pump should not only heat but also cool. It moves heat from one place to the other, using the external air as an exchanger. I would look at this as an upgrade to a regular air conditioner. I have a geothermal which uses the same principal but uses the ground instead of the air to draw or dissapate heat to/from.

Even if you don't plan to be there more than a few years wont you still be conditioning the space for the laundry and shower facilities for your campers?

I would go for the heat pump if I was in your shoes if the money is budgeted for it. Long term cost savings.

 

[Farwell]

Eddie,
I researched a system that uses ground water to heat and cool your home along with a heat pump. It can be set up two ways:
1. circulate water 5 feet under ground (approximately 500 feet worth of buried tubing)
2. pump water from a well and after it passes through your system it flows into a pond.
Not sure what the ground temperature is in Texas at five feet below the surface but it is around 55 degrees year around here in Michigan. My well water is so cold that I can't keep my hand in the water stream for any length of time.
In the Summer the 55 degree water helps cool the home and in the Winter the 55 degree temperature helps heat the home. The home heating system will only have to make up the difference between 55 degrees and approximately 70 degrees that is comfortable in cold or warm climates.
Do not know what the system is called, but it does tie in to the heat pump style heating and cooling systems.

 

[Bird]

Eddie, I have no personal experience with heat pumps, but a brother-in-law had one in Duncanville (southwest corner of Dallas) and thought it was great. Another brother-in-law just had one installed recently in his home in Princeton, WV (southern tip of the state). From what I've heard about them, I think that's the way I'd go.

 

[Tdog]

Eddie,

When we moved to the country 13 years ago, our house was all electric & had 2 heat pumps. Both of them were pretty large, 4 tons or so. They were installed when the house was built in the late 70's, early 80's, & I guess the owner was trying to save a buck, because they were contractor models. Not very efficient, & did not heat worth a @#@$!#. The AC part was OK. I had them looked at & was told that they lacked the resistance strips needed for auxiliary heating. The owner/builder was trying to get by on just air exchange alone. Well I'm in south Louisiana where it does not get as cold as it does where you are, but I think we would have frozen the 1st winter here if we hadn't had a good wood-burning stove.
After a few threats from my wife, we eventually replaced them both over the next few years. We're pretty satsfied now.
Just be sure your unit handles both heating & cooling well.
Good luck.

 

[Tim_in_IA]

I would say that 13 years ago these were probably quite different. Efficiency has improved a great deal since then. The resistance strips or elements are only used as a backup when the system cannot keep up. The only bad thing about air source heat pumps vs the ground water loop geothermal pumps is that they have to operate against the outside elements, so in the summer you are trying to expel heat in already hot conditions, and in the winter you are trying to suck heat out of already cold air. With the ground geothermal version, you have continuous 55 degree earth to extract or submit heat to or from. Makes a big difference. You can also heat your hot water with the geothermals. You'll get a sticker shock though when you install them, definitely a long term commitment. The air source models are just a big brother to an air conditioner with benefits in my opinion. Being down in Texas if you dont get extreme cold very often I would think air source would do quite well. In the northern climates where I am at, you need auxillary heat with the air source below 32 degrees or something like that, as there is not enough heat to extract from the outside temps. (gas, electic, wood, etc, controlled by relay switch and outdoor sensor)

Eddie, this is probably more info than you wanted on this right? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I guess it boils down to how you will be using the building over the years to justify the cost.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for all the info. No such thing as TOO MUCH!!!

You guys have said just about the exact same things as the AC guy did. He mentioned that Texas is a perfect environment for a heat pump due to our mild winters.

I'll post the quote when I get them to compare the difference in price.

Eddie

 

[woodlot]

Ed how much $$ did you save by building those trusses yourself? was it worth the extra labor?

 

[Tim_in_IA]

Eddie, this site is about geothermal, but the same principles apply to heat pumps, the exhange medium just changes from ground to air.

http://www.geoexchange.org/index.htm

Also, don't know how close your workshop and home is to your pond you're building, but that might bring geothermal into your price range. A huge portion of the geothermal is the well or loop. With a pond you just drop the pipe into the pond. Great performance as well.

Since you have heavy construction equipment you could also probably go the horizontal loop way and trench the coils yourself. A benefit this would have over the air source heat pump would be that you would be drawing on those constant ground temps instead of the texas heat. Air conditioning would be a lot cheaper, not to mention heating.

Some people look at these as heating with electricity, but that is not really what is happening. The heat already exists, the pump is just condensing it and moving it from one place to another.

Since you are using this for a shop also, this means no combustion so no chance of explosions as there would be with a gas or wood flame.

 

[EddieWalker]

I didn't price premade truss's cause I wasnt' interested. I'm working by myself on this and there's no way to install them on your own. Two guys can do it, or I could hire a crane and manage on my own, but chose not to.

Each truss has around $50 in materials. They span 24 feet and have a 4 in 12 pitch. No snow rating and not certified.

Eddie