Average electric bills with heat pump (price, floor, plumbing)

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Yeah, previous owner of our home has just installed the engineered flooring, so ... a carpet and carpet pad is the extent of our efforts for this house.

I'd rather invest capital with the intention of building a modest/small passive house in 15+ years.

That's what a neighbor of mine did. Triple pane windows, most of them facing south none of them north, incredibly thick walls with foam and so on. I don't remember the BTU of his system but it's incredibly low for the whole house, If I remember correctly water is the most expensive thing to heat for him, at least before he put solar on.

Downside is that I doubt the house is going to sell very well, the shape is kind of just a cube, rooms are pretty small, windows pretty much only on one side. I doubt he cares about selling and probably you can find the right person and sell well. I would consider it probably, it's fascinating.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by Lampert

That's what a neighbor of mine did. Triple pane windows, most of them facing south none of them north, incredibly thick walls with foam and so on. I don't remember the BTU of his system but it's incredibly low for the whole house, If I remember correctly water is the most expensive thing to heat for him, at least before he put solar on.

Downside is that I doubt the house is going to sell very well, the shape is kind of just a cube, rooms are pretty small, windows pretty much only on one side. I doubt he cares about selling and probably you can find the right person and sell well. I would consider it probably, it's fascinating.

Yeah, livability really comes down to how well the home is architected and, of course, budget. I have a recently built 'net zero' home in my neighborhood which is owned and designed by an architect. He used the typical strategies like south facing windows, large eaves to shield the 'high' summer sun, exterior insulation to remove thermal bridging, etc., but his home is quite livable and should have excellent resale ... it's an objectively nice home, albeit single level. Sounds like your neighbor took a rather 'orthodox' approach on a very limited budget.

An R-7 triple pane isn't too much more than a higher end Marvin or Jeld-wen casement, so one can selectively add a few windows to the north and east sides of the home without incurring too much of a cost or efficiency penalty.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

which is owned and designed by an architect.

I think you pointed out the real difference here, the home in my neighborhood is owned and designed by an engineer

I think more than a budget issue they just went for absolute maximum efficiency. The house isn't bad, it's just....intense.
I agree with you, I would compromise more between efficiency and livability.

[Louisville Slugger]

My neighbor in my condo just had a two zone system (1 condenser for two indoor units) installed by New England Ductless. It took a while to decide where to mount the condenser, but she decided to have it mounted on the side of the house probably about 10' up from the driveway. They took some time running the electrical, but eventually got everything mounted and wired securely. I texted her last night to see if the two zone system was everything she expected it to be.

She says it's nice, but the system vibrates the wall enough to cause my other neighbor's indoor unit to make noise. Her outdoor unit is on the same wall where my other neighbor's indoor unit is mounted. She's been talking to New England Ductless and they claim every vibration reduction attempt in the past has not worked. They don't want to try anything other than moving the condenser to a different location. They've claimed they consulted other companies and the manufacturer and they all recommend moving it. They want to charge her to move it even though they said the unit would be heard only on the quietest of nights.

I saw some coil spring type isolators and a special material called sorbothane. She wants to gather information and present it to New England Ductless to see if they can at least try these things. They may not completely eliminate the vibrations, but greatly reduce them. I know the unit comes with rubber pads, but I guess these are not sufficient. I don't hear anything, but I am on the other side of the house, probably 50' to 60' away.

Sucks about the situation, for both her and my other neighbor.

[Shrewsburried]

Most of the manufacturers install instructions suggest ground mounting if wall mounting to cement or masonry isn’t an option.

I wall mounted mine using thick isolators sourced from McMaster-Carr. There is some noise transfer, but no vibration transfer. The factory isolators on that wall stands are quite poor. I’ve seen coil isolators for handing indoor coils, but not outdoor stands.

Got a link?

[Louisville Slugger]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Most of the manufacturers install instructions suggest ground mounting if wall mounting to cement or masonry isn’t an option.

I wall mounted mine using thick isolators sourced from McMaster-Carr. There is some noise transfer, but no vibration transfer. The factory isolators on that wall stands are quite poor. I’ve seen coil isolators for handing indoor coils, but not outdoor stands.

Got a link?

I did a quick search last night and found this:

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.p...i-split.76560/



Not sure if this can be used for her application.

Appreciate the help, Shrewsburried.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by Louisville Slugger

I did a quick search last night and found this:

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.p...i-split.76560/



Not sure if this can be used for her application.

Appreciate the help, Shrewsburried.

Thanks.

I used these (see link below). I was able to remove the existing rubber pads and use the existing hardware holes ... hardest part was lifting the unit solo so that I could slip them in. Ideally I would have used a lower durometer (for more dampening), but as is they seem to remove the bulk of the vibration.

https://www.mcmaster.com/9217K55/

As stated elsewhere, I have 6x2 walls + plywood sheathing + a glued and screwed Azek/MDF sandwich behind the wall mount bracket. So what *barely* works on my house is likely to not work on a 4x2 wall or balloon frame. I have zero transfer during the summer/cooling mode, but when the compressor is chugging on a cold night I do get some NHV transfer.

[Louisville Slugger]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Thanks.

I used these (see link below). I was able to remove the existing rubber pads and use the existing hardware holes ... hardest part was lifting the unit solo so that I could slip them in. Ideally I would have used a lower durometer (for more dampening), but as is they seem to remove the bulk of the vibration.

https://www.mcmaster.com/9217K55/

As stated elsewhere, I have 6x2 walls + plywood sheathing + a glued and screwed Azek/MDF sandwich behind the wall mount bracket. So what *barely* works on my house is likely to not work on a 4x2 wall or balloon frame. I have zero transfer during the summer/cooling mode, but when the compressor is chugging on a cold night I do get some NHV transfer.

Hmm, I cannot comment on the construction of my building, but I doubt it's as good as what you have.

I have a MSZ-FH12NA / MUZ-FH12NA for the upstairs. Do you think those would work on the mounting bracket I have?

I don't hear much of anything from my unit, just curious.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by Louisville Slugger

Hmm, I cannot comment on the construction of my building, but I doubt it's as good as what you have.

I have a MSZ-FH12NA / MUZ-FH12NA for the upstairs. Do you think those would work on the mounting bracket I have?

I don't hear much of anything from my unit, just curious.

Oh, you're looking to isolate the indoor air handlers? That's a difficult to impossible task given the air handler design and mounting scheme.

If the indoor handlers are vibrating, its typically due to dust/mold build up on scroll fan or the line set is transferring NVH to the indoor coil. The former can be resolved with a cleaning, but the latter really is an install issue.

The mounts I linked are intended to go between the wall stand and outdoor unit.

[Louisville Slugger]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Oh, you're looking to isolate the indoor air handlers? That's a difficult to impossible task given the air handler design and mounting scheme.

If the indoor handlers are vibrating, its typically due to dust/mold build up on scroll fan or the line set is transferring NVH to the indoor coil. The former can be resolved with a cleaning, but the latter really is an install issue.

The mounts I linked are intended to go between the wall stand and outdoor unit.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I am talking about my outdoor unit now. If I were to upgrade the existing rubber pads, would the ones you linked work with my setup?