Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by bad_alloc | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

bad_alloc

Common issues you face when getting a heat pump:

* Few suitable places to install it

* Lack of qualified workers to install it

* Limited availiability of heatpumps

* Conventional heaters do not work well with heat pumps. Floor heating is preferred and also not easy or cheap to do

* Not enouch capital to finance it, despite it making economic sense.

I got one, it's great and they should replace oil and gas heating for sure. But these problems can keep people away from them.

View on HN

Often, the maximum temperature a heat pump supplies is a lot lower than conventional heating (think 55 C versus 80+ C). This means heating up a house happens slowly and steadily, instead of the "turn a knob and your radiator is now scorching hot" paradigm.

Before installing a heat pump, your house should be insulated pretty well. Otherwise you'll never heat it up properly.

My experience with heat pumps has been that I've had to replace them much more often, they didn't offer a significant cost savings and frankly didn't provide the same level of comfort compared to a gas furnace for the trouble. That was in a relatively mild climate, I couldn't imagine using one where it gets properly cold.

To be fair, most people I know who installed air-source heat pumps are not actually paying significantly less than before. Currently the high electricity prices pretty much negate all the efficiency gains. I'd say insulate first, a very well insulated home barely needs heating. Eg. the passivhaus standard in Germany. Edit: typo

I beg to disagree. I have a new, custom built, triple-glassed, very well insulated home. We moved in Feb before we got our heating pump installed. The house was at 15 degrees, with portable heaters often on. Sun shining thru, oven usage and said heaters couldn't keep it warm.

It gets really cold in Canada. How efficient is the backup electric heating at -20 c? How much money will it cost to expand the power grid for all those new units and EV? Governments that invest too much in the future don’t get re-elected. Lots and lots of cans get kicked down the road.

Surely it depends on location.

Aircon is a thing in the us, a heat pump is basically the same.

I can see this being more of an issue in Europe where Aircon wasn't already a thing.

Some heat pumps seem to be a similar size and shape to a conventional gas boiler. They don't all need to be a big box outside.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com