anyone know about heat pumps?? Residential

[Mattl22]

Looking at houses and my wife and I love one but it has a strange heating cooling system using a heat pump I know nothing about it anyone out there have a clue what kind system this is I really need someone who knows how to work / fix these things the AC part is not working ATM !
Here is pic of outside unit



Please pm me if u know about this stuff

 

[Mattl22]

Bump

 

[skene]

is that one of the older central air system? does the place have gas or is it oil..?

 

[pak]

heat pump is a reverse cycle of a ac system,summer u got cooling and winter u got heat

 

[jcurry]

Plan on getting rid of it if you buy the house. Heat pumps are typically used in the south for supplemental heat and AC were temps are more mild.

 

[edd]

Plan on getting rid of it if you buy the house. Heat pumps are typically used in the south for supplemental heat and AC were temps are more mild.

+1 that thing looks very old. their only efficient to 50 deg or so, colder than that an electric coil supplements the heat. basically electric heat.

 

[Mattl22]

Yes just figured that out can it be turned into forced hot air? Or does it need all new base board

 

[edd]

the heat pump i had was forced hot air. i haven't seen them with baseboard. do you have baseboard and duct work?

 

[Mattl22]

No base board but there is duct work so I'm wondering if I can use existing duct work and install a new centrel air + forced hot air using old ducts as a cheaper option then installing all new base board

 

[edd]

yes you can use existing duct work. when my heat pump went, i bought a reem a/c and gas heat forced air unit. you will need to have two plenums made to match your existing duct work.

 

[Mattl22]

Is it much cheaper then adding a gas boiler and base board?

 

[edd]

much cheaper. to do it that way you would have to buy separate a/c unit, a hot water boiler, and have base board installed through out the house. i would guess triple the cost.

 

[NewfiDog]

Matt there is another option. First off get rid of the heat pump as already mentioned they dont work well in the north east. There is alot of them out there and they are even still installed but around here they need a back up and they just dont save anything.

You can do as you mentioned just replace the ac, and have a conventional furnace installed with it, this would be the most cost effective. But have you ever lived with hot air heat? It is the worst type of heating but it is the cheapest to install since all new homes have central air installed and thats why in this area its the most installed form of heat in new construction. You could take it a step further and yes it would cost more but you would not need a humidifier the air would not be dry like conventional hot air, and much better for alergies.

You would have the ac installed as normal but no furnace, a coil takes the place of the furnace then install a boiler run the coil off the boiler this is called hydroair, and to utilize the boiler install an indirect water heater which runs off the boiler, if you plan on finishing a basement you could run a baseboard loop off the boiler.

How does the house make hot water now? Is there gas which is less costley to install than a oil boiler. If you were to consider this option i would suggest using a sealed combustion boiler, taking combustion air from outside instead of from the house but not a condensing boiler as to expensive and no return because the coil is high temperature so the boiler would not condense. Ther are cast iron sealed combustion boilers, but if there is a chimney and its in good condition you could use that to save a few bucks but i would suggest the sealed combustion. Burnham has a nice series of boilers cost a little more but they have a great control you can install an outdoor reset for about 400 dollars and just need to run 1 wire the control is prewired and has priority control for an indirect prewired no additional controls needed so the extra cost is justified.

I dont work in your area but if you have any ? just ask.

 

[Mattl22]

Is forced hot air really that bad? Neither me or my wifebhave allergies but do wake up stuffy when heat is used a lot in winter ! Also we both like the temp at about 60 degrees

Do u have general idea how much a 3 bed room house with living room dining room sm family room and sm basement would cost to do base board and new boiler?

Would a new forced hot air /ac unit be 1 unit or 2 separate units? About how much is this if duct work already installed?

 

[Mattl22]

Thanks for all ur help

 

[NewfiDog]

Price you would have to get from a local contrator, the units would look like one in the basement but actually are 2 and then the condensor out side. But the hydro air would save you from running the baseboard and have the same type of heat as the baseboard. If its a one story home and unfinnished basement then the baseboard is easy to run.

 

[Mattl22]

Hydro air is the name of the heating system? I'm sorry I have no clue bout this stuff!

How does hydro air work? Through the ducts? How is it different from forced hot air or base board

The house is a split ATM the basement is unfinished but if we buy house plan to re do it make a tv room

 

[Mattl22]

Base board from my understanding is better because it keeps house warm once it gets warm where as forced hot air is constantly running and makes house really dry???

Trying to figure out pros and cons !
Just hearing bout hydro air for first time

 

[edd]

i have owned numorous houses 2 with forced hot air and 2 hot water baseboard. ima forced air is less dry than hot water because you can control the humidity. i always ran a good humidifier. ima my houses with baseboard were dry air its not like steam. now that i have a 150 gal reef using 2 gal a day of top off my air is not dry anymore. the most expensive humidifier i ever bought.

 

[NewfiDog]

Hydro air uses a coil in the duct system instead of a furnace the boiler heats the coil, you use your ducts but its not dry like a furnace the coil is like baseboard. The advantage for you is you have the ducts. I have done this a few times its not very popular around here but it is in colaroda and utah from what i understand. Everyone i have done this for has been happy, i just finished converting a 100 year old vapor system to 3 hydroair units works nice and didnt have to open up half the house to run baseboard.

Mabey this would help dont pay attention to the condensing boiler i would advise against it you cant condense with a hydrocoil.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOZCjEdJFQg