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Thread ID: 88903	2008-04-14 00:39:00	Heat pumps	nofam (9009)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
658532	2008-05-08 15:03:00	Absolutely useless things compared with a heat pump . In the previous house my mother lived in I had installed a heat pump and the house was actually warm compared with the oil column heater and she did not notice any difference in her power bill . Not my purpose . . it was what Lakewoodlady said about her portable heater being such an energy hog . . . I was just agreeing with her . . . I didn't compare the wattage with a heat pump unit at all . But you are right . . there is no comparison . . . obviously . Whilst the heat pump can heat/cool a whole house, the portable unit can only spot heat a room or small area . That was part of my original thought though . . . the waste of energy in the portable makes no valid comparison to a full house unit . If Lakewoodlady was trying to heat the whole house with a small watt eater, then the prices of a heat pump and the portable unit would take on an entirely different aspect . . . and be much closer to equal . My guess would be that if everything else was equal, in that the heat loss from poor insulation, ambient air leaks and drafts and time were all factored in, then yes . . . either unit would approach the same wattage used . Unfortunately . . . things are not equal . Time = loss of energy because time allows for more soaking and conduction of energy away from the space being heated or INTO one being cooled . Insulation = would reach thermal stasis earlier if it were inundated with massive amounts of energy (heating or cooling effect) by a heat pump much quicker than the energy provided by that of a space heater . Not arguing with you . . but the factors are much the same for space heater losses, but horribly off the charts for energy used to achieve that condition if . . . . . . . . . . there are also huge hysteresis losses to the compressor start up (which a space heater does not have), . . . . . thermal losses by the moving of a cooled or heated air mass from the outside to the inside of a residence via fans or blowers (which the space heater does not have to do), . . . . (or if the heat pump uses liquid for the transfer media and needs to pump that liquid into the building and then use a evaporator-slash-condenser to get the energy either in to- or out of the building) with the required air moving blower(s)/fan(s)), . . . . . start-up current/amperage (which the space heater commutes into fairly close to instant heat once the element is incandescent), . . . . . associated other mechanical losses from exchanging heat for cooling by system reversals, . . . . and finally . . . . the initial financial costs of purchasing, installing the unit, of which the only expense of the space heater is going to Wal-Mart, buying the unit, taking it home (gasoline-diesel?), opening the box and plugging it in . Sarcastic? Maybe . . . but these are all factors that count .	SurferJoe46 (51)
658533	2008-05-08 21:04:00	thanks for the responses, it seems that a heatpump overall would be better. I hadn't yet thought about the accessibility of firewood for us, and the price.	caffy (2665)
658534	2008-05-09 05:49:00	My guess would be that if everything else was equal, in that the heat loss from poor insulation, ambient air leaks and drafts and time were all factored in, then yes...either unit would approach the same wattage used. I do recommend an inverter heat pump because of the savings from startups.	mikebartnz (21)
658535	2008-05-09 06:01:00	I do recommend an inverter heat pump because of the savings from startups. Correct me if I am wrong,but all good heat pumps are of the inverter type. In other words do not consider cheepies.	Cicero (40)
658536	2008-05-09 10:15:00	Correct me if I am wrong,but all good heat pumps are of the inverter type. In other words do not consider cheepies. :banana	mikebartnz (21)
658537	2008-05-09 11:16:00	:banana Are you suggesting that we some- how use bananas to heat our houses? Sorry that is what I am getting from your reply?	Cicero (40)
658538	2008-05-09 16:51:00	Are you suggesting that we some- how use bananas to heat our houses? Sorry that is what I am getting from your reply? And I thought you were sharp.:groan:	mikebartnz (21)
658539	2008-05-09 19:28:00	And I thought you were sharp.:groan: As a needle mate...:lol:	Cicero (40)
658540	2008-05-09 20:41:00	lugging around large baskets of firewood, lighting the fire then waiting up to an hour for things to heat up. A lot of crap is talked about free or cheap firewood. Have you priced it recently? Yes. In Auckland it was getting pretty expensive. Here its $40 or $45 a metre. Lugging and splitting firewood is good for you. Its exercise. Although fair enough if you are getting too elderly for it........ We have, so far, not had to pay for wood, just put in some effort cutting and splitting it. We have a nice tidy wood shed down the bottom of the garden so no clutter anywhere. I came in one day last week when we had had frosts and it was cold, no heating going, took only 20 minutes for the lounge to warm up and and an hour for the rest of the house. Friend round the corner got a heat pump. She went from woodburner to heatpump, and that was not cheaper at all. And I went round the other morning and they had lit the woodburner too the previous night. Why? She said its a different heat............. I love my woodburner.	pctek (84)
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