I just finished having our 24-year-old heat pump system changed out, and got to thinking that maybe all the research that went into the new system, plus a description of the various kinds of systems and their efficiencies, might make a good article for the Tech Forum.
Background:
We'd had a succession of service calls on the old unit, and in the middle of the last one of those, it went BANG and quit completely. mg:
We got lucky. We were both out of the way when it failed catastrophically. But I turned to the service guy and said, "I think this might warrant a discount on the call." We were also lucky that this was an electrical failure only and that none of the old ozone-depleting refrigerant was lost.
We have a pellet stove, and used that full-time to stay warm while I did the research and called various dealers for bids.
It took about three weeks of research, bids, and bid modifications before we selected a system type, and then a dealer to install it.
A look into the research:
Essentially, there are three types of systems: what I'll call a 'base' system, (our old one was this type) which works like a furnace: stat calls for heat, it turns on. Stat hits set point, it turns off.
There is a second type of system, what I'll call a 'multi-level' system, where the stat calls for SOME heat, it turns on at a lower level, then like the 'base' system, the stat hits set point, and it turns off.
The third type of system is what I'll call a 'variable' system, where the system periodically flows air to keep the house more comfortable and with no cold spots. Heat is added in small increments, only when needed. The efficiency gains come from the intelligent electronic controls, and the inverter-type motor control systems.
This article might be fairly long, but I'll insert links to the different system types, and I have some photos of the changeout process. It's not a complete documentation because the components are heavy and expensive; and I needed to stay out of the way. But the idea is to take a lot of the mystery out of these newer, energy-efficient systems.
This seems like it might be a valuable article; if so, let me know if you agree and I'll go for it. I intend to build it in installments so anyone here who is an HVAC expert can help keep me on track. Then I'll bring all the components into a 'master' article which can then be posted in the Tech Exchange; this ould be unless the Group opinion here is to keep it in a series of shorter articles.
Let me know what you think. :thanku:
Thanks!
Background:
We'd had a succession of service calls on the old unit, and in the middle of the last one of those, it went BANG and quit completely. mg:
We got lucky. We were both out of the way when it failed catastrophically. But I turned to the service guy and said, "I think this might warrant a discount on the call." We were also lucky that this was an electrical failure only and that none of the old ozone-depleting refrigerant was lost.
We have a pellet stove, and used that full-time to stay warm while I did the research and called various dealers for bids.
It took about three weeks of research, bids, and bid modifications before we selected a system type, and then a dealer to install it.
A look into the research:
Essentially, there are three types of systems: what I'll call a 'base' system, (our old one was this type) which works like a furnace: stat calls for heat, it turns on. Stat hits set point, it turns off.
There is a second type of system, what I'll call a 'multi-level' system, where the stat calls for SOME heat, it turns on at a lower level, then like the 'base' system, the stat hits set point, and it turns off.
The third type of system is what I'll call a 'variable' system, where the system periodically flows air to keep the house more comfortable and with no cold spots. Heat is added in small increments, only when needed. The efficiency gains come from the intelligent electronic controls, and the inverter-type motor control systems.
This article might be fairly long, but I'll insert links to the different system types, and I have some photos of the changeout process. It's not a complete documentation because the components are heavy and expensive; and I needed to stay out of the way. But the idea is to take a lot of the mystery out of these newer, energy-efficient systems.
This seems like it might be a valuable article; if so, let me know if you agree and I'll go for it. I intend to build it in installments so anyone here who is an HVAC expert can help keep me on track. Then I'll bring all the components into a 'master' article which can then be posted in the Tech Exchange; this ould be unless the Group opinion here is to keep it in a series of shorter articles.
Let me know what you think. :thanku:
Thanks!