-22F Low Temperature Heat Pump (house, living, costs)

[OutdoorLover]

Just came across this -22F rated low temperature heat pump, from Cooper & Hunter - their "Hyper Heat Series", in a Consumer Reports discussion. Haven't found too much info out there yet, but this would beat Mistubishi and Fujitsu - who currently get the vast majority of installs in northern New England.

Example product page on a 36,000 BTU multi-zone unit:
https://cooperandhunter.us/product/ch-hpr36m-230vo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6PXB12pGe0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCZrBI3PFag

[OyCrumbler]

Awesome, thanks for putting up these links!

[matrix5k]

When people say "heat pumps" are they the same as mini splits with heat pumps? Meaning you have to turn on each room's unit on individually? These are great in the summer but there probably won't one in the bathroom or a hallway to heat in the winter?

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

but there probably won't one in the bathroom or a hallway to heat in the winter?

You could. It'd be more expensive than Natural Gas, but you could.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

When people say "heat pumps" are they the same as mini splits with heat pumps? Meaning you have to turn on each room's unit on individually? These are great in the summer but there probably won't one in the bathroom or a hallway to heat in the winter?

Yes, these are mini-split heat pumps. Multi-zone outdoor units can have multiple indoor units driven by a single outdoor unit and each with individual thermostatic control. Typically the indoor units are only installed in the larger rooms - e.g. great room, kitchen and bedrooms. You could indeed put a small indoor unit in a bathroom - they make them formatted like a radiator for example - a small one might be nice under the bathroom window... though from what I have seen, they might still be oversized for a bathroom, at least in an efficient home. Some people just use an electrically heated floor or baseboard electric heat in the bathroom and then turn that on e.g. 20 mins before going in to shower in winter - that's not the most efficient, but you're only using it part time in a small space, so the electricity cost is insignificant.

[GeoffD]

It doesn’t have to be a mini-split. It could be conventional forced hot air ducting. It could also use a much more efficient ground loop hydronic system instead of air for the heat pump. There are also radiant systems where you heat the floor or use big panel baseboard radiators that require a 120f water-water heat pump.

My bathroom has a 120F PEX loop to heat the floor. If I had to do it over again, I would have done the whole house that way. Heat and domestic hot water from a hydronic heat pump. My mini split A/C system is quiet compared to window units but it’s still noisy compared to a forced hot water heating system which is silent.

[gf2020]

We're installing Mitsubishi Hyper Heat units (good to -13F) next year. I will have a total of 5 head units and one 48,000 BTU condenser.

Our goal is air conditioning but this will give me the option of heating with electric if it is less expensive than natural gas.

We converted to gas with a high efficiency condensing boiler 8 years ago, so I know what my typical annual consumption is. I figure I can go electric for the '23-'24 winter and see how the costs compare.

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by gf2020

We're installing Mitsubishi Hyper Heat units (good to -13F) next year. I will have a total of 5 head units and one 48,000 BTU condenser.

Whatever you do, put in a single zone system in your main living area. Whether that's the living room, great room, family room, whatever, put a properly sized single zone unit there. Then you can use the multi zone for all the other locations.

I have a 5 head 48k hyperheat as my primary heating system and it works great. Saves hundreds over the prior system. It is big time oversized for my cooling loads and it shows. Humidity control isn't great in some areas, and this would be greatly reduced or eliminated by installing a single zone or several of them as they are capable of ramping down to a much lower minimum btu to remove humidity.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by gf2020

Our goal is air conditioning but this will give me the option of heating with electric if it is less expensive than natural gas.

As I mentioned in the other thread, unless you have seriously cheap electricity (for MA), it's not going to be the case. You could probably figure it out if you had the amount of therms you used last winter and the cost of the therm versus what you are paying for electricity.

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by gf2020

We're installing Mitsubishi Hyper Heat units (good to -13F) next year. I will have a total of 5 head units and one 48,000 BTU condenser.

Our goal is air conditioning but this will give me the option of heating with electric if it is less expensive than natural gas.

We converted to gas with a high efficiency condensing boiler 8 years ago, so I know what my typical annual consumption is. I figure I can go electric for the '23-'24 winter and see how the costs compare.

I find heating with mini splits to be expensive compared to gas.