New Heating/Cooling System

[Clemson]

The time has come to replace the old oil furnace in the farmhouse. I'm thinking about putting in an electric heat pump and converting to central heating and airconditioning. Natural gas is not available, Propane is available, Oil is available, Electric service would likely have to be upgraded to run an electric heat pump.

The current system is a central heating system on a one-story, small (900 ft2) house. Good insulation in the ceiling, some in the floor, not much in the walls.

Any suggestions as to where to start with this project??

 

[dummy]

If the duct work is in and the oil tank still useable, new oil furnace with CAC. Heatpumps don't deliver that warm air that oil or gas does. JMO

 

[TAB]

If you are already set up for oil I don't know that I would go to another type of fuel. Most of the newer units I have seen lately aren't as dirty or as smelly as some the older ones. I still think they require more maintenance, but if you have the fuel system no need to spend money on that.

Propane is a pretty clean fuel compared with oil, but you have more of an explosion problem than with oil. I know, you don't want either system to blow-up. Propane would allow for gas stove, water heater or fireplace you wanted one.

I don't know how bad winter gets down there, some people I know like the oil because they can put more fuel in the tank if they can't get a delivery.

When we have redone old houses I usually have gone gas and replace the ductwork. If the duct is pretty clean or cleanable you could reuse it. For return air I like to box the whole return so as to keep as much dirt out of the air as possible, especially on small houses.

I know people that can sell me furnaces, but I usually sub out that work. Sorry I couldn't be more help, I'm fighting the flu.

 

[BB_TX]

We have had a heat pump for 18 years and I would not have anything else. BUT, be aware that a heat pump does not work well much below 25 degrees. Below that it requires supplemental heat (i.e. electric heating coils). Here in N TX that is not a particular problem as we don't have that many days each year when it drops below 25. And even if it does, it typically does not last that long. However, with the supplemental heat, it heats down to very cold with no problem. (we had a record minus 4 about 10 years ago or so and the house stayed warm). But while the heat pump is efficient, heating with an electric coil is not.

 

[GaryM]

<font color=blue>"But while the heat pump is efficient, heating with an electric coil is not."</font color=blue>

Electric coil heat is 100% efficent! All the power gets turned to heat! Ha Ha.

But you are really correct, because the heat pump MOVES the heat from outside to inside, or vice versa. So the heat pump provides more heat than the power consumed.

 

[dmccarty]

Clemson,

The energy people would say the first thing to do would be
to insulate the walls, make sure the ceiling insulation is done
correctly and try to seal up windows, doors, outlets, etc.

That costs money but it can be cheaper than buying more of
a heating/cooling system than would be needed in an insulated
house.

All of the house I have lived in over the last 20+ years where
heat pumps. In Florida its ok. Here in NC, we are cold during
the winter. When I lived in KY we where beyond cold because
of the heat pump. The houses that had gas/oil heat where
WARM! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Ours where iceboxes.

A year or so ago we had a cold spell. As usuall we where
cold but the power bill was no more than $150 for the month
in a 1250 square foot house. A guy at work spent over $300
for the month with propane. I'm sure he was warm but YIKES!
He had a bigger house but it should not have doubled the
fuel bill....

Since you are in SC the heat pump might be ok sense you
won't have that many cold days.....

Our house we are planning to build will have a heat pump. But
we are hoping that the heat pump will supplement the one/two
wood stoves and the passive solar design.

Its a tough call based on how cold the house gets, what you
are comfortable with and how much you want to spend. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Hope this rambling helps.....
Dan McCarty

 

[Clemson]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. The contractors are trying to steer me toward Propane because of the age of the house and the lack of insulation. I have three coming to look at the job tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how close their bids are.

 

[BigDave]

Have you considered combination heat? There are more sophisticated systems, but we use a combination of a propane fireplace and heat pump went it gets cold outside. First off, we live in Maryland and I would say for it's not too cold for a heat pump this far north, but our house is new and properly insulated. We have two heat pumps, one upstairs & one downstairs. We keep the upstairs, which is heated by a heat pump only, at 72 degrees. For the downstairs, we set the heat pump at 64 degrees, but we use propane fireplace with a blower which more than adequately heats up the living room & kitchen areas (about 800sqft where we spend most of our time) to a toasty temperature. Our winter electric bills are no larger than our summer electric bills, but throughout the winter we may buy 200 gallons or so of propane. We aren't home during the day so the propane only runs in the evenings and we turn it off when we go to bed.