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Old 12-11-2018, 08:45 AM
 
12 posts, read 6,900 times
Reputation: 19

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All,

Just trying to solicit some suggestion to help me understand heat pump operation.

So long story short, I had my beloved A/C tech (trustworthy, I love them) come over yesterday to troubleshoot some heater related issue, problem was resolved, but before he left, he suggested that I seemed to have wired my smart thermostat incorrectly, so even though I have a heat pump system, it's currently running in heat strip (direct heating only), so this is extremely inefficient and very costly in power bills...

After he said all that, he then said that maybe it's not all that bad.. heat pump is an A/C operating in reverse. So during summer time, the A/C piping outside near the condenser is subject to ~300psi pressure, if in heat pump mode, then the evaporator coils (A-frame upstairs in my attic) would be experiencing ~300psi. This much higher pressure would obviously subject a lot of stress to the evap coils, which may "prematurely" require replacement for the evap coils.

My A/C guy is the most honest and trustworthy so I trust them. But this appears to be a conundrum. Running a heat pump saves a lot of power bill, but if running a heat pump means I have to replace evap coils earlier, which is a ~$2500 expense.. . what should I do? Or is what the a/c tech saying is completely bogus?

Thanks very much for your thoughts. I have a circa 2010 split RHEEM heat pump system.
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Old 12-11-2018, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
12,059 posts, read 13,839,832 times
Reputation: 7256
I'm not a fan of heat pumps. In really cold weather they don't work and you have to switch to auxiliary gas anyway.
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Old 12-12-2018, 02:07 PM
 
12 posts, read 6,900 times
Reputation: 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by cBach View Post
I'm not a fan of heat pumps. In really cold weather they don't work and you have to switch to auxiliary gas anyway.
I believe the official data says anything below 40F Heat pump becomes less efficient than other means of heating... I actually think Houston is great for heat pump since it doesn't have many days below 40F.
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Old 12-12-2018, 02:55 PM
 
Location: Memorial Villages
1,506 posts, read 1,775,590 times
Reputation: 1691
Are heat pumps common in Houston? Every home I've owned/rented in Houston has had either gas furnaces or electric resistance furnaces.

In principle, it seems like heat pump systems would wear out faster, since you're utilizing your refrigeration system (coils, compressor, etc) for heating as well as cooling. This, plus the higher upfront cost, has always led me to select gas furnaces when I have the choice.
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Old 12-13-2018, 08:49 AM
 
12 posts, read 6,900 times
Reputation: 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by gwarnecke View Post
Are heat pumps common in Houston? Every home I've owned/rented in Houston has had either gas furnaces or electric resistance furnaces.

In principle, it seems like heat pump systems would wear out faster, since you're utilizing your refrigeration system (coils, compressor, etc) for heating as well as cooling. This, plus the higher upfront cost, has always led me to select gas furnaces when I have the choice.
I bought this current house built in 1991 in Katy, TX and it has a heat pump system (upstairs) and strip heating only for downstairs. I think what you're describing about premature wear & tear may be precisely what my A/C tech was saying - that running an A/C in reverse in a heat pump will subject piping to higher stress... the tech did also tell me that neighbors on the same block are using gas furnace heating, he doesn't understand why none of my units are gas powered..

3 days ago during an overnight temp drop apparently the heat strip only unit kicked in, in 1.5 hrs of running time, essentially it consumed more kWhr than whole month of Nov when neither ac nor heat was running.. I'd definitely opt for a gas unit next time when it comes to replacement...
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Old 12-13-2018, 09:18 AM
 
Location: TEXAS
3,821 posts, read 1,360,400 times
Reputation: 2010
Get your thermostat wired correctly! - heat pump systems are tested to run at 400psi+ and designed to withstand that over the life of the system (10+ years)!


running it WONT 'wear it out'



over the life of the system, you'll spend WAY MORE than $2500 in extra energy costs running in heat-strip only - don't do this . . . . heat pumps give you 2x, 3x, or ever 4x more heat per watt than heat-strip
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