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| Thread ID: 121726 | 2011-11-09 07:16:00 | Are Heat pumps really economical? | mzee (3324) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1242667 | 2011-11-11 05:00:00 | My ex boss has a timer set for winters - so it is nice and warm :D Ie., like 30mins before her alarm goes off. But for us, we don't really need it in Wellington, LOL. Never used it in summers. In winters it heats up pretty quickly. I guess some units have internet activation but we haven't gone that way yet and probably by text message too. In winters, we turn on when you we get home and turn off close to bed time. We haven't got them in the bedroom areas yet ... we have thought about getting one put in the corridor thou and let it flow into the rooms rather than putting one in each room which is expensive and for such a smallish area it would prob be inefficient costing. It would be v efficient to heat the room up - gets to a temp and than idle control it. But for 4 rooms, one HP in each .. the start up energy use and 4 of them compared to 1x .. may be inefficient with additional overheads. I am also a light sleeper. With my cellphone I actually get woken when the phone starts to rattle before the bells on. |
Nomad (952) | ||
| 1242668 | 2011-11-11 07:09:00 | They are called heat pumps in Winter, and air conditioners in Summer. :p I only turn mine on when actually needed. I also close the lounge door so the heat doesn't escape - the pump is only rated for the living area size, not the whole house. I have been known to bask in the lovely chilled air on those hot stuffy Summer nights. :D |
Jen (38) | ||
| 1242669 | 2011-11-11 09:28:00 | But for us, we don't really need it in Wellington Is that an oxymoron??? LOL |
Gobe1 (6290) | ||
| 1242670 | 2011-11-11 11:08:00 | Nice to see a logical and considered discussion on heat pumps. Much of what you read is either enthusiastic puff from manufacturers or puzzled comments from consumers. From what I have read (researched) Daiken make the best units. Mitsubishi actually have two divisions and the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries heat pumps are very good, although most consumers don't know to buy them. The main benefit of a heat pump is comfort. A bar heater will warm you through infra-red radiant heat but other parts of the room will be chilly. I use both when its really cold (below 5 degrees) because a heat pump cannot be efficient at low temps - the coolant needs to have a freezing point way below Zero. Overnight I leave the (Daiken) pump at 12 degrees which is comfortable and can be quickly boosted in the morning. Generally 18 degrees is ok for general living but 20 when its cold outside. |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 1242671 | 2011-11-12 00:54:00 | I cant afford one and am in a flat anyway. But you would think they would come with a timer, so that you could set it to come on in the morning before you get up. And I thought they extracted warm air from outside, rather than using an element to heat it. Which is another reason they don't work very well in very cold climates. |
Digby (677) | ||
| 1242672 | 2011-11-12 02:38:00 | Our one you can program diff times for each diff day with the OEM remote. Like Monday - Thursday but you might come home later on a Friday. We find they are cheaper to run. It does need time to do the icing when it is quite cold outside. Not sure how places do thou .. like Japan in winter. I know friends in Japan and they pretty much have air con units as well. | Nomad (952) | ||
| 1242673 | 2011-11-12 06:13:00 | I cant afford one and am in a flat anyway. But you would think they would come with a timer, so that you could set it to come on in the morning before you get up. And I thought they extracted warm air from outside, rather than using an element to heat it. Which is another reason they don't work very well in very cold climates. Good heat pumps will work when it is as low as -15c outside. |
mzee (3324) | ||
| 1242674 | 2011-11-12 07:50:00 | I cant afford one and am in a flat anyway. But you would think they would come with a timer, so that you could set it to come on in the morning before you get up. And I thought they extracted warm air from outside, rather than using an element to heat it. Which is another reason they don't work very well in very cold climates. I live in a flat and have a HP. Yes they do have timers. As mzee says some can work down to below -15C outside. I have a Diakin and on cold frosty mornings the outside unit has to go into defrost mode every 20 minutes. This only happens about once as by the next 20 mins the outside temp has risen enough for this not too happen. Mine also has a motion sensor on it which you can set up so that the unit knows when someone is in the room so to crank the heat up. I don't use any of these fancy features just the thermostat. :) |
Trev (427) | ||
| 1242675 | 2011-11-15 01:51:00 | The dealers who sold me the Heat Pump have compromised as it is just out of warranty They have agreed to replace it with a new one, less the installation charge. They have offered me a 6kw Mitsubishi or a 7kw Hitachi. Question is, which do I buy? The Mitsubishi costs about $700 more than the Hitachi, and has a 5 year warranty compared to 6 year for the Hitachi. |
mzee (3324) | ||
| 1242676 | 2011-11-15 02:15:00 | I would take the Mitsubishi. :) |
Trev (427) | ||
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