A Heat Pump For Maine????? (Hallowell: rental, how much, new home)

[flycessna]

I saw last night on tv about a heat pump made here in Maine by Hallowell International called the Acadia that is effecient to more than 30 below. Some home owners in western CT saw great savings off their electricity.

Since I heat with electric base board and propane monitor I am looking for a more effecient way to heat my home.

Is anyone familiar with this product. I reviewed the websight and it looks pretty good...of course I have no idea to the cost of it.

Is this feasable in Maine? Will it save me moeny?

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by flycessna

I saw last night on tv about a heat pump made here in Maine by Hallowell International called the Acadia that is effecient to more than 30 below. Some home owners in western CT saw great savings off their electricity.

Since I heat with electric base board and propane monitor I am looking for a more effecient way to heat my home.

Is anyone familiar with this product. I reviewed the websight and it looks pretty good...of course I have no idea to the cost of it.

Is this feasable in Maine? Will it save me moeny?

I have been watching the development of this product for more than ten years. I owned an antique cape that was going to need a new heating system when I first saw this system demonstrated during the summer. It was ninety degrees in the warehouse where a demonstrator/test "bed" had been set up. The test module was connected to a freezer room that was 4 degrees inside, and when the door was opened so that we could walk in, it "snowed" when the hot summer air hit the cold inside.

The heatpump operating inside was generating very warm air indeed.

Much has happened since that time, and the company has morphed into Hallowell International today through a series of lawsuits and patent actions.

The Acadia Heat Pump is for a warm air system, so if your house has baseboard heat, it will not work with the Acadia unless you install warm air ducting in the house.

Hallowell International is developing a new heat pump that will be appropriate for use with hydronic heating systems and it will be available next fall, so they told me.

Pricing for the Acadia is in the $8-10,000 range which makes it competitive pricewise with a normal oil heating boiler.

We are very much interested in this system or one like it for our new home. They do indeed work well in Maine's climate. This is "NEW" technology and the old understanding that "you can't do that here" is out of date.

[flycessna]

I will assume that 8-10 thousand will not cover the cost running the duct work. I live in a split and trying to think of how to run the duct work. The idea of hot are blowing down from my attic ceiling doesn't compute well...esp when I need to heat my downstairs too.

What is a hydronic heating system.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by flycessna

I will assume that 8-10 thousand will not cover the cost running the duct work. I live in a split and trying to think of how to run the duct work. The idea of hot are blowing down from my attic ceiling doesn't compute well...esp when I need to heat my downstairs too.

What is a hydronic heating system.

Hydronic is in-slab forced hot water, OR I have seen hydronic systems that were fastened to the underside of the basement floors with insulation underneath that heated the floor of the house. Worked very well.

No, blowing down isn't good, because heat rises. In your case your duct work will need to be installed underneath the first floor and heat will then rise.

The issue of installing ductwork is a major one I think. The size of your house will determine the size of the heating system, and the configuration of your house will determine how and how much the duct work will cost in terms of materials and labor.

If you have electric baseboard, you may have th emost efficient heating system possible, provided your house is insulated as well as it can be, AND you have enough electric baseboard heat producing area. A number of years ago I was looking at an old house that was heated with electric baseboard. The house had been used as a rental and the house's reputation was that no one could afford to live there because it had electric heat.

My electrician at that time was an old timer who had long before forgotten more about electricity than most electricians are ever expected to know. His comment has stayed with me since that time. It was that the problem with most electric heat is that it was installed inadequate to the space being heated. Installing a piece of electric baseboard that is six feet long and expecting it to heat a 10X15 foot area efficiently is foolish. His recommendation in that house was to replace all the electric heating units with new ones that were at least as long as the longest outside wall in each room. That way the heating units would not have to run at maximum output all the time, and the resulting kilowatt hour usage would drop. I didn't get the house on the basis of price, so I never got a chance to test the theory.

I would also suggest that if your insulation in the exterior walls isn't as good or complete as it should be, or if the cap insulation is as thick as it can be, or if your windows and doors are letting air escape, it may be that work can be done there less expensively than changing the heating system completely, with the same net result. In addition, you might look at Welcome to Solar Market: Solar Photovoltaic Panels, and Solar Energy Information, Solar Panels, Solar Power Panels, Solar Heating Panels, Photovoltaic Panels. this is a Maine company that has developed solar panel systems that are "off the shelf" and which will generate electricity that will help drop the kilowatt hour use of your existing system during the daylight hours. There are lots of options available.

[ribbets]

I believe there is a new forum at geoexchange.org/forum that started the first of the year

[flycessna]

As far as I know my house is super insulated. 36 inches in the attic and walls...well how thick are my walls...house was built in 78. My highest KWH yearly usage was in 2004/05 at around 22000. Since then I have put in a propane instant hot water heater...my kwh usage for 2007 was 13,294. I love the electric for its cleanness, and eas of use (7 zones). I keep the heat low...off....most of the time. My house is 55 60 at night which is fine for me. Keeps the kids BR at 70. Is it worth spending 15k to save 1k a year...i dont know...with tech. always on the move I will wait and see what comes down the pipe. I would love to see some affordable solar electric panels that could generate 30000 kwh a year at an affordable rate and take myself off the grid completely and/or sell some back to cmp

[Acadianlion]

Look at solarhouse.com.

[lissybet5153]

I know this post is old but wondering if you purchased a n Arcadia. We are having nothing but problems with ours and no one will get back to us from Hallowell. Very limited service in the Mass area.

[flycessna]

No I never did purchase this. I am sorry to hear you are having problems.. What kind of trouble are you having?

[Submariner]

Every Saturday morning on 103.9Mhz FM from 8am to 10am is a talk show called: 'Hot and cold'.

They discuss methods of heating homes in Maine.

Heat pumps do get discussed regularly.

A few university studies have been completed; maybe three dozen private contractors have installed heat pump systems in Maine.

As of 2 years ago they were still hoping for one such design to break even.

This summer they were saying that they thought that maybe the systems have improved enough that finally there may exist a heat pump that works well in Maine.

Check out the talk show