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Oxford study proves heat pumps triumph over fossil fuels in the cold (www.nationalobserver.com)

submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Oxford study proves heat pumps triumph over fossil fuels in the cold::Published Monday in the scientific journal Joule, the research found that heat pumps are two to three times more efficient than their oil and gas counterparts, specifically in temperatures ranging from 10 C to -20 C.

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[–] CountVon@sh.itjust.works 51 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

a journalist saying that a COP above 1 means the heat pump “creates energy”

In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!

But what’s great is that this COP of 2, while bad, is not catastrophic. That’s still in territory where gas boilers are more cost efficient that a heat pump, but unless you are living in a place that is consistently under -10C for several months, then a heat pump has overall lower running costs than a gas boiler. And you are starting to hit pretty northern territories with this.

I actually have a hybrid furnace/heat pump system, and I live in southern Ontario, Canada. The furnace is the auxiliary heat source and it only kicks in when the outdoor temp is below -6C. I've only had this system through one winter so far, but I think I could count the number of days the furnace ran without running out of fingers. My electricity bill went up some of course, but my winter gas bill went down a lot.

Edit to add: I wasn't shopping for a hybrid system in particular, but I got this upgrade through the Canada Greener Homes Grant and there were limitations on which units qualified for rebates. For my install (forced-air with existing duct-work), the hybrid systems were the ones that qualified.

[–] CoolMatt@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

I'm a 4th year AC/R mechanic born and raise in Southern Ontario, currently in BC.

You mebtioned your hydro was up but gas was down. Out of curiosity, can you tell me how your total cost of heating changed before/after your first winter with your heatpump? Did you end up saving money?

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Was there any specifig brand/seer rating restriction with the GHGrant? I just applied and will be going this route, but I don't want to be paying $15000 for a specific brand or something if I can get similiar equipment that might not be on a list.

[–] CountVon@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Was there any specifig brand/seer rating restriction with the GHGrant?

It's more complicated than that. The major components of the system all have to be qualified for the rebate, down to the component model numbers. There's a lookup tool to see which model numbers qualify. For a hybrid setup like mine, there are three parts:

Outside model number: this is the actual heat pump component that gets installed outside
Inside model number: this is the condenser coil that gets installed on top of the furnace
Furnace model number: this is the model number of the furnace itself

A ductless system would only have two part numbers involved, the outside heat pump unit and the inside wall unit (though a ductless install can have multiple inside units in multiple rooms). No furnace for a ductless system of course. Edit to add: and all of the major components you get have to be certified with each other by the GH program. They don't want you mixing and matching.

Every HVAC company I talked to was pretty knowledgeable about the GH program, so if you tell them you're an applicant then they should put together a quote that qualifies. Multiple HVAC reps advised me to make sure that all rebate-covered part numbers were listed clearly on the invoice. Apparently if that info is missing it can derail the rebate until the invoice is updated with full info.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's a useful tool, thanks for linking that. How much did your hybrid system end up costing?

[–] CountVon@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The total install was $12k. I also did another 1k in retrofits under the Greener Homes program, but I did the Greener Homes loan as well. I had to outlay the $13k up front, but then I got all of that back in a 10-year, 0% interest loan, plus $5600 in rebates on top ($5k for the heat pump, $600 for the furnace). The loan processing company debits my account $110 a month, which is low enough that it doesn't really sting.

I debated doing solar as well, since the Greener Homes loan goes up to $40k. Solar would gave easily soaked up the remaining $25k available in the loan. My roof isn't ideal for solar though, and I didn't want to triple the loan's monthly payments for a solar install that wouldn't have paid for itself over time.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

TY. I'm considering solar as I picked up 2 pallets of panels for our farm, and I don't need all of them there. I assume there's all sort of permit issues in the city for that though, so I might just skip it.