Heat Pump question (2014, condos, houses)

[nuts2uiam]

We arrived here in late March so have yet to experience a winter here. My neighbors who came from homes with gas heat say they are never warm here. I came from oil heat.

I had a cape on LI and a ranch here. Now I can recall that at 73 degrees thermo setting in NY I was comfortable most of the time. Here it seemed a bit on the chilly side and I usually can handle a little cool as opposed to a little hot.

So my actual question is. What is the difference between oil heat and heat pump at the same temperature? Or as stupid as this sounds is there a difference between 73 degrees with oil or gas or a heat pump? Isn't 73 degrees the same regardless of the source?

[DelawareLiz]

I own an 11-year-old rancher with gas heat/heat pump, and I am never cold....and our thermostat is set on 62 degrees all winter. This shocks some, but it's not that bad so long as I have long sleeves and socks on. We get a lot of natural light in here and it keeps thing toasty. Of course, I cannot stand being hot so take my tolerance of cooler temps for what it's worth.

Regarding the oil vs. gas heat: every place I have lived in had gas heat (except when I was very young) so I cannot do a fair comparison. However, my parents had oil heat in their old farmhouse until last year (now removed after their renovation due to flooding), and they claimed it was a "hotter" form of heating--meaning 62 degrees burning oil felt warmer than 62 degrees on gas heat. They now have gas heat and a woodstove. Their home always felt warm to me regardless of whether it was oil or gas, but they also kept their thermostat on 68. However, they seem to be satisfied with the gas heat.

Thankfully, our winters aren't very harsh here; we had a couple big snowstorms a few years ago, but it's been pretty quiet since then. Rarely are the daytime temps below 40, and that would be in Dec. or Jan.

[svitale03]

I think there is also what I call "delivery method" to consider.

For example, I have lived in houses that had forced-air heat. In some houses the forced-air was heated with electricity, in others it was heated with natural gas, and in at least one it was "heated" by an electric heat pump. More about the quotes around "heated" in a sec.

I have lived in places where the heat was delivered via hot water running through radiaters. The water was heated by a natural-gas burning boiler.

I now live in a house where the heat is delivered via steam running through radiaters. The water is heated to steam by an oil-fired boiler.

My preference are radiaters, regardless if they are water or steam, and regardless if the fuel is natural gas or oil.

One thing to note: forced-air heat blows air. So, there's air blowing when the furnace is running. Radiaters, well, they radiate heat, so there's no blowing air. However, the air being blown by a furnace, whether that furnace is fired by gas, oil (is there such a thing?) or by electricity, should be warm air.

EXCEPT: When the air is being blown by a heat pump. It is my experience that heat pumps tend not the blow warm air. It was explained to me that is because of they way they work. What a heat pump does, apparently, is work much like an A/C unit, but in reverse: it removes the cold from the air, and blows in the rest. Maybe someone who knows more can offer a better explanation.

The problem is, though, what if it's so cold that there is only 'cold' in the air. What does a heat pump do then? Well, most units kick in the 'back-up' heat, which is usually electric coils (similar to a space heater) which then add 'warm' to the air. At this point you essentially have an electric fired furnace, which is, from what I've been told, somewhat uneconomical when it comes to heating air.

This winter we will be using a house that has a heat pump. However, it's a 'dual-fuel' thing so if it's so cold that the 'back-up' heat kicks in, instead of using electricity, it will use propane (no gas lines to us), which is supposedly more economical than electricity.

To sum up: I usually felt cold with a heat pump. Unless the 'back-up' heat was on.

And congratulations on your move to DE!! It's a great place!!!!

[Mary2014]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

We arrived here in late March so have yet to experience a winter here. My neighbors who came from homes with gas heat say they are never warm here. I came from oil heat.

I had a cape on LI and a ranch here. Now I can recall that at 73 degrees thermo setting in NY I was comfortable most of the time. Here it seemed a bit on the chilly side and I usually can handle a little cool as opposed to a little hot.

So my actual question is. What is the difference between oil heat and heat pump at the same temperature? Or as stupid as this sounds is there a difference between 73 degrees with oil or gas or a heat pump? Isn't 73 degrees the same regardless of the source?

It may not be the heat pump at all, but, rather the difference in the amount of humidity in DE. Try googling "why does humidity make you feel colder in cold weather" (and hotter in hot weather).

Mary2014

[North Beach Person]

Forced air with an oil or gas furnace produces hot air above the thermostat setting. The air produced by a heat pump is at the thermostat setting.

Do not turn the heat down at night as you do with other furnace types if you have a heat pump. Doing so triggers the auxiliary heat to turn on the next morning to heat up to the desired temperature.

The Upper South like DE still gets just a bit too cold in the winter for heat pumps for heating to be economical.

[nuts2uiam]

Svitale03& North Beach that makes a lot of sense to me now that you explained it that way. We had forced warm air via an oil fired burner and you are right that baby would push out warmth immediately.

North Beach that is a good tip. I am going to have to figure out how to sleep now as I have to have it cold to sleep comfortably. I may be shutting the air vents down to keep the heat out .and DH will have to add a blanket!!!

[doctorjef]

We have a gas furnace and a heat pump, having put in the latter when we had to replace our old a/c compressor (a heat pump functions both for cooling and heating). Heat pumps are highly efficient down to about 30 F. The companies will tell you that you can easily use them down to the upper 20s F, but I find that much below freezing, ours doesn't really warm the house that well. They are very popular in warmer parts of the country, but DE is really about the top of the range for having them IMO. There is a qualitative difference in the heating they put out. You don't get really hot air coming out of your heating vents when the heat pump is running. When it switches over to gas or oil heating, you will get hotter air that heats up the house faster. With a heat pump, it's a slower, more cumulative effect. They are very good when the outdoor temps are in the 40s or 50s. Thus, in places with relatively mild winters, people these days will often have only a heat pump and no furnace at all (newer construction or small condos and the like). I like ours, but it isn't a complete solution -- in this part of the country you have to be able to switch over to a regular furnace at least for temps below 28 F (a programmable thermostat will do this automatically).

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

What is the difference between oil heat and heat pump at the same temperature? Or as stupid as this sounds is there a difference between 73 degrees with oil or gas or a heat pump? Isn't 73 degrees the same regardless of the source?

It isn't your imagination. The air blowing out of a heat pump vent is not as warm as the air blowing out of a gas furnace vent. It might be a difference of 95 degrees versus 105 degrees. You perceive it is cooler because it is lower than your body temperature.

I live where heat pumps are the norm. I adapted by wearing layers in the house, eg a light shirt over a tee. The shirt keeps the air from blowing over my arms, so I don't feel cold.