Homeowners with heat pumps / quality of air???????

Question

my husband wants to replace our 30 year old furnace with a heat pump (not geo thermal). (and our old water tank with a electric tankless water heater as well). my question is this: I have heard that people complain about the "quality of heat" during the winter months. That the air pumped thru the vents feels cool rather than hot like the nat gas furnace air does. apparently women in particular dont like that, i dont think i would either. so does anyone have anything to say about that? Also I am uncertain as to whether or not we would need a secondary heating source during the winter, we live in Virginia near the beach if that makes any difference.

Answer 1

I lived in Virginia Beach for 10 years.

We had an all electric home, with a heat pump.

Electric heat is not as warm as gas heat, but using ceiling fans will help keep the temperature more uniform in the home, and ultimately, more comfortable.

Answer 2

If you are used to gas heat,the 1st stage of a heat pump will feel much cooler to you.It will take some getting used to.They are more efficient and have a second stage heat available with the flip of a switch or automatically if the first stage is not warm enough for you.

Answer 3

Because of the air quantity needed for a heat pump the temp. of the air is cooler because it needs more CFM per BTU than gas heat.

This is not a problem if the duct work has been installed in the correct areas.

You should not feel air directly on you.

Some older homes have registers in the center of the home and air directed towards occupants.

Usually people do not want to spend the money for correcting register locations so they learn to live with it.

I have seen this also when fuel oil customers change to gas heat.

Oil furnace air temps are usually higher than gas.

Heat pumps are typically installed with a secondary electric strip heat for heat applied during defrost cycles and when the heat pump cannot keep up with the heat loss or in an emergency when the heat pump has failed.

Answer 4

FIRST OF ALL HEATPUMPS WORK ALITTLE DIFFERENT. THEY TAKE THE AIR THATS IN YOUR HOME AND EITHER WARM IT OR COOL IT AS THE CASE MAYBE. HEATPUMPS TAKE ALITTLE LONGER TO HEAT THE AIR FOR THAT REASON,HOWEVER THERE ARE 2 SOURCES OF HEAT W/HEATPUMPS,1 IS THE HT.PUMP ITSELF,THE 2ND IS EITHER ELECTRIC HEAT STRIPS OR GAS HEAT,HEAT PUMPS ARE ONLY EFFICIENT TO 37 DEGRESS AFTER THAT THE AUX. HEAT MODE COMES IN SO YOU DO HAVE A SECONDARY HEAT SOURCE AFTERALL.AS FAR AS THE TANKLESS HOT WATER HEATERS,,, THEY ARE GREAT,,THE HOT WATER IS INSTANT AND GIVES PLENTY OF HOT WATER IT HAS A SMALL TANK THAT RESERVES A COUPLE OF GALS. OF HOT WATER AT ALL TIMES,RECOVERY TIME IS ALMOST INSTANT,SO TO WRAP IT UP THE HEAT PUMP IS GOOD FOR THE SOUTH WHERE THE WINTERS AREN'T THAT SEVERE,AND THE TANKLESS WATER HEATERS ARE GREAT IN MY OPINION,I DEAL W/THESE EVERYDAY, I AM A REGIONAL MAINT. DIRECTOR FOR A LARGE MULTI HOUSING CORP.