I have free electricity! (for a heat pump)

[Matteo92065]

Hey, thanks for all the input.

It sounds like the job gets too involved (for me) once I'm replacing all the refrigerant lines! The system is less than one year old, so I guess I'll just keep it intact and inplace.

We have put small electric room heaters in each bedroom, and that has cut down on our propane use.

I like the idea of heating water! Never thought of that.

In San Diego, residential accounts don't have the option of Time Of Use meters. We only get Net Metering with no payment for excess generation.

Attached is a picture of my new system. It took me 3 months of on and off working weekends, and large number of trips to Home Depot.
Never mind the landscaping, its a new house.

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Never mind the landscaping, its a new house. )</font>

So... I probably couldn't interest you in any landscaping rocks, huh? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Nice looking place and one hekuva view. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[kenmac]

Kinda looks like a ducane brand a/c unit. That's a GREAT VIEW !

 

[techman]

The ideas of electric baseboard heaters is a nice, cheap solution, but the big point has been missed. By going to a heat pump, you will get 2 to 2.5 times the heat per KW than with electric resistance heat. Your original idea of a heat pump was a good one. Given your limited amount of free power, getting the higher efficiency is a smart move. It does require a higher investment, but I think a wise one.

If you really want to spend some money, put in a geothermal heat pump. This will give you the maximum amount of heat (and A/C) for the given KW input. If you really want to be creative you could get a water-to-water gothermal heat pump. This will generate hot water for domestic water or heating. You could use it to heat up 2 or more 50 gallon hot water heaters during the daylight (w/o having the elements connected, just as an insulated storage tank). You could then draw the water out of the tank and use radiant loops or a heat exchanger in the air handler to provide comfortable heat all night. Again a higher initial investment but maximum BTUs for your KW.

paul