Heat Pump

[Bruce]

Air to Air, Water Source, Supplemental Heat Source, you get the picture?

[Ron in Indiana]

I have had an open loop ground source geo thermal furnace for 21 years now. I wouldn't have anything else myself. We don't have natural gas available on our road. I didn't want propane or an electric heat pump either. The initial cost was higher but the savings have paid the difference. I also have the add on hot water assist which gives us virtually free hot water in the summer months. This past summer with the a/c running the water heater was almost to hot.

My mother has an air to air heat pump next door but it has to resort to the strip heaters when it gets to cold outside like last night, -9.

No matter what type of heating and cooling unit you have it all costs money to operate. The trick is having plenty of insulation, efficient doors and windows and a properly maintained efficient HVAC unit.

Is it spring yet?

[Bruce]

My water source is also a closed loop system, several hundred yards (maybe a thousand?) of plain water.
Nearby, Colonial Williamsburg has underground pools w/linear pipes, (up & down) all Geo-Thermal.
Virginia Power has done it similarly with a large man made pond near Innsbrook.
My father in-law came up w/the plan/idea. One of our first Geo Thermal pumps kept developing a leak, after 12 years & 4 or 5 leaks/drains, we added the air system.
When the remaining closed loop system fails, we have a deep well (unused) very close to the house should make fine substitute for the loop? This unit is almost 25 years old.

[Desoto61]

I have dual fuel setup. Air-air heat pump with gas emergency heat.

My house had a fairly new gas furnace when I bought it but no central air. So when I went to have it installed I had them leave the gas furnace and install a heat pump instead of just a central air system.

The heat pump was only a few hundred more than just an AC unit and it's more efficient, but when it gets too cold for the heat pump I fall back to gas heat instead of resistance coils.

Figured with the normally mild winters here it was the best of both worlds. Lately it's been a godsend because our winter has been anything but mild.

[Bob2]

Gas Heat

I have natural gas heat in house.

[Doc Dave]

I live in southern Maryland, with a climate a lot like yours- but slightly colder in winter. IN my opinion heat pumps are really inadequate for this area of the mid-Atlantic with the winters we have, which are not as bad as a lot of the country.
The electric company pushes these in new homes as it helps there bottom line. Also its a cheap heat/cool combo for the builders.
I am going to look at getting an oil burner backup to my heat pump. We have a wood boiler system that works well to heat things better, but the problem is with my wife and I on the go a lot there often is no one to "tend" to it. The oil burner would be automatic. We live on a dead end in a semi rural area and so do not have natural gas.

I have dual fuel setup. Air-air heat pump with gas emergency heat.

My house had a fairly new gas furnace when I bought it but no central air. So when I went to have it installed I had them leave the gas furnace and install a heat pump instead of just a central air system.

The heat pump was only a few hundred more than just an AC unit and it's more efficient, but when it gets too cold for the heat pump I fall back to gas heat instead of resistance coils.

Figured with the normally mild winters here it was the best of both worlds. Lately it's been a godsend because our winter has been anything but mild.