Why is a heat pump bad in Southern California?

Question

I like the idea of replacing my indoor furnace and outdoor AC unit with a heat pump, but when I call AC companies for an estimate, everyone recommends against it. They say it won't be as efficient. Why not?

Answer 1

i dont really see the problem, unless there are long periods of 20 degree temps.

as i understand it, yall dont have much cold weather at all, so a heat pump would be about the best solution.

Possum, HVAC guy

PS,
im intrigued, IM me.

Answer 2

California Heat Pump

Answer 3

A number of reasons:

1st: you'll be using electric all year round. Electricity is skyrocketing (at least here on East Coast) while natural gas price is coming down.

2nd: Heat pumps don't work well at low outside temperatures. (this shouldn't be a problem in SoCal). But when it does get cold enough so that the heat pump will not get any heat out of the outside air, the emergency heater comes on (an electric heating coil). When you are running the electric coil, that is when things get real expensive. Again, this is not to much of an issue in SoCal, and generally that should be a great climate for a heat pump application.

3rd: (this is what they don't tell you) A lot of people don't like the heat a heat pump gives off. A heat pump discharges air in the 85-90 degree range. Plenty warm enough to warm a space to 70 in the winter. But to a person with a 98 degree body temperature, it feels like COLD air, particularly when it is blowing directly on them. Especially to people (like youself) used to furnace that discharge heating air around 100-110 degrees. The air feels HOT. The furnace runs a lot less than a heat pump to heat the same space, because the furnace is making hotter air. So A/C contractors get a lot of trouble calls with complaints that heat isn't working, it feels cold, etc., etc., even though the heat pump is working fine. Then when the owner's learn about it, they say "nobody told be it wouldn't feel as warm" and they become disgruntled (even though the room is the same 70 degrees). The contractor is just saving himself future aggravation. You might hear the term "quality of heat" used. That's what it means. In terms of quality of heat, nothing beats an old fashioned steam radiator (especially since it adds humidity, too). But a lot of people end up really disappointed with the quality of heat that a heat pump provides.

I also say stick with the gas heat.

Answer 4

Perhaps the HVAC companies you are calling do not understand how to properly size the home for a heat pump and may not know how to set it up properly and sevice it. Try to locate a Dealer that sells either American Standard or Trane products. Their personnel are normally factory trained. Both have excellent heat pumps and furnaces.
I have a 100,000 BTU Variable Speed furnace with a 3 1/2 Ton Heat Pump at the 14 SEER level. Made by American Standard. Works well and have lowered by utility bills significantly.

Answer 5

I have no idea why they don't recommend them. Heat pumps don't work that great where it gets really cold but work great where it gets hot. We have one and our furnace comes on once in a while to help it out but we live in Canada (-4 F). It gets really hot during the summer here 100 degrees or more and no water for up to 10 weeks. Our heat pump cools our 2200 sq. ft. house and is so efficient. So many people I know had troubles with Central A/C that we went with a heat pump. If you want to replace the furnace and the a/c with a heat pump you can only save big time. Next time you phone them ask them what makes if less efficient I would be interested in the answer. Maybe because they can't unload all their a/c units if people keep buying heat pumps. The price of gas use to be cheaper than electricity but it keeps getting higher and higher so that now it is almost the same as gas. Heat pumps have changed lots in the last 5 yrs. they use to blow all the time but now 2 Canadians invented a new valve for them so that they don't blow cold air on you anymore.

Gas furnaces still pollute the air and heat pumps run on electricity.

Answer 6

Average residential rates are around 10 cents per Kilowat hour. Since your 250 watt light is a 1/4 of a kilowatt, it costs about 2.5 center per hour, or 60 cents every 24 hours, or about $18 every 30 days if you run it non-stop. Can't answer the question about the size of the bulb since don't know the specifics. Outside temp, wind, depth of well, etc. However, in this application, the heat lamp is probably better than a regular bulb. Other options would be thermostatically controlled heat tape or, a thermostatically controlled electric heater that would cycle on and off. Conside building an insulated shroud, that would allow even a very small regular bulb to heat the space above freezing. Good Luck

Answer 7

A heat pump is the best energy solution when the only fuel you have for heating is electricity. Electric heat elements are going to operate at 80 amps (20kw). The heat pump running as the heat producer runs at 20 amps. You have natural gas. Natural gas is cheaper than electricity. The blower in the gas heater will run about 5 amps only while the heat is being produced by natural gas. SO, the reason they are telling you this because they are being honest. A dishonest company would like to put in a heat pump for you, regardless of what it does to the energy bill, because the profit earned to install a heat pump is a lot of money.

Answer 8

They are not use to installing them, and they want to sell you what they have.
Find somebody that does heat pumps, you can find anything in SoCal.

Answer 9

Because of the diffrence in humidity, weather has alot to do with it.

Answer 10

diffrence in humidity