These New Heat Pumps Will Make a Real Difference

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Most buildings across the globe are heated with gas and oil despite heat pumps being a much more energy-efficient alternative. While some countries have been keen on adopting them, others have been slow on the uptake. Why have some countries been hesitant to push the technology? Could a new upgrade to heat pumps make them a more viable heating option? Let’s have a look.

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I will never tire of the Germans and English hemming and hawing over heat pumps because what if it gets cold outside, while in the meantime here in the Nordics we're barely even bothering to install anything else these days. You'd think we'd make a more compelling source of social proof.

arirahikkala
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I live in Sweden, my father and several neighbours installed heat pumps in the late 70s, 1978 in our house if I remember correctly. They all chose to sink windings of plastic tubing in the lake and dig trenches up to the houses. It cut the energy cost dramatically. We had temperatures down below -30 degrees C outside and it never got cold inside our house. So yes, insulation and heat pumps is a good idea if you want to save energy. I bought and old house last summer with a broken wood furnice. I installed an IVT air to air heat pump in combination with floor standing 230V radiators as a temporary solution before I install the new permanent heating. I will throw out the old furnace and the old radiators and install a bedrock drilled heat pump and new water radiators. We had -26 degrees C this winter and the IVT air to air heat pump held 21 degrees C in my house together with the 230V radiators. The IVT heat pump is rated down to -25 degrees C, and the efficiency sinks with lower temperatures, still it delivered enough to keep me warm. Bedrock drilled and lake heat pumps has better efficiency because it never gets below zero in lakes and bedrock. New heat pumps saves a lot of energy, they put out 4-5 kW warm air or water for every 1 kW of electricity you put in. Regarding sound emissions, the old 1978 heat pump in our house I grew up in was loud, it was a 3-phase synchronous pump and its vibrations was felt and heard throughout our house. Modern heat pumps are nothing like that, my air to air heat pump has a inverter regulated pump and I rarely notice it. The inhouse radial fan makes the usual fan noise as any other radial fan. I can live with that noise if it saves me hundreds of euro every month. And as a bonus, it can be used in reverse in the summer run as a AC cooler if it is hot out side. Cant go wrong with a heat pump if you ask me. It saves energy, and therefore money. And an air to air heat pump isn't that expensive either, and down in Germany you have warmer winters than here in Sweden so better efficiency for you. :)

perengstrom
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Installed our first heat-pump 20 yrs ago. With Norwegian electricity prices it was a nobrainer already at that time. Earn-back time was approx 3, 5 years (now its approx 2, 5 years).
What surprised me was that when visiting Germany or Britain, people we visited used electric heating (ovens) at least in parts of their homes which makes no sense as an alternative (could understand gas if that was cheap). I suspect it came down to the fact that rental is more typical on the continent. The landlord had no interest in investing since the tentant paid energy, while the tenant didn't invest because he is, well, a tentant.
In Norway pretty much everyone ownes their home, so making long term investments in the house comes more natural.

erik
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In Australia we've been using these for decades to cool houses in summer, and then warm them in winter. We've always referred to them as 'reverse cycle airconditioners' but they're just heat pumps.

nitramluap
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I think another big advantage of the heat pump that hasn't been mentioned is that they can also invert working cycle and cool the house during summer
So you get warm and cold with only one system

WarPro
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We installed a LG minisplit in our house several years ago. It is an air sourced system and the inside units circulate air. We live in a semi-rural area and also heat with cordwood, at least until I get too decrepit to harvest/split/stack the wood. So far we have been very happy with the system.

At the tail end of the video you touched on a big problem improving residential energy efficiency - rental housing. In general the owner of the building is responsible for the equipment while the tenant pays the energy bill.

tomschmidt
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All newbuild houses here in NZ seem to have heat pumps. Almost no one uses gas to heat houses here as unless your in the deep south its not cold enough so heat pumps are becoming installed as fireplaces and older systems are quickly being replaced with heat pumps.

runforrestrun
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My sister has an older, poorly insulated house in Victoria, B.C. (admittedly a mild climate). She replaced her old oil-fired hot air furnace with an air to air heat pump system, with a resistive electric heat element to add extra heat in the winter. Her heating bills dropped precipitously and the system paid for itself in just a few years. However, electricity in BC is relatively cheap as it is mostly hydro electric.

heronimousbrapson
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As a Canadian viewer who loves our new Mitsubishi heat pump I was shocked to hear Sabine say that heat pumps are noisy. This is a common complaint of older heat pumps, which was the case with our 20-year old unit. I can say definitely that they are extremely quiet now, as our happy neighbour can attest.

mikemason
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Propane was originally used as a refrigerant some 60 years ago. Now it's a revolutionary new refrigerant.

MrWessiide
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In New Zealand everyone has them. Typically small air to air units for heating the air in the house but hot water heat pumps are also getting popular. It’s doesn’t get extremely hot or cold here so they’re usually very efficient.

jermunitz
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Good info! I live in Arizona, USA, where I'm converting to off-grid solar and a mini-split heat pump.

robbehr
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I installed our wall mounted, air source heat pump/ air conditioner 18 months ago. Its refrigerant is R290 (propane). It is very effective and reasonably quiet. Luckily, our bungalow is well insulated.

MervynPartin
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Got old house, got heat pump, don't got noise, don't got problems. Funny how countries that have traditionally relied on coal have so many problems with heat pumps.

danielv
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It does make total sense to talk about pumping cold the same way we talk about voltages in a circuit or "holes" in semiconductor technology. It works because all this are meta statements, we are not really talking about material quantities but about the flow of those quantities, and thus we get to chose the frame of reference that helps us the most.

vermifugo
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I live in UK and am super happy with my ASHP. First year cavity wall insulation was equivalent to none and we use 3300kWh for our 5 bed detached house. Then got new cavity insulation fitted and now used about 2500kWh. So house was nice and warm before and same after. We run 24 hours a day at 18c and 16c overnight. it is a gentle heat rather than an aggressive heat from an oil boiler.
Also the humidity can be an issue so a dehumidifier is in use.

Jawlf
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Here in sweden heat pumps are designed to be able to take electricity to heat if needed. So if it becomes way to cold to use the electricity kicks in.

FurieMan
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Heat pumps are popular where I live -- the southeastern United States -- and growing more popular every year. Because it doesn't ever get *that* cold during the winter, and in the rural areas you can't get a connection to the natural gas main anyway, it just makes sense to install a heat-pump instead of a separate furnace and air conditioner. In the past 30 years, heat pumps have gotten so much better, and as a result, are becoming more and more popular with every passing year.

We might have, oh, two weeks or so where the outside temperature drops below the point where the heat pump can keep up with the temperature difference between inside and outside. So there are resistive "heat strips" inside the blower unit that act as supplemental heat when it's needed. They use a *LOT* of electricity, but, like I said, it's only about 10 to 14 days a year where you need to run them. And the thermostat kicks them on automatically, so you don't even know they're on. Until you get that months' electric bill of course. 😂

My heat-pump is 18 years old almost, so it's nearing the end of its life. When I replace it in a couple of years, I expect to get one that's efficient enough not to need heat-strips. I hear modern ones can operate easily down to 5 degrees F (-15 C). It might get that cold here one or two days every 4 or 5 years. Worst case, I can supplement my heat pump with a couple of space heaters if I had to.

LMacNeill
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I fix refrigerated kitchen equipment for a living. I started working on 290 machines around 2015. It was amazing to see the difference in the amount of charge between the 2. Old days would be like 15 ounces of 134 and now it's like 3 ounces of 290. The down side is the old days you would see a side by side refrigerator run by one deck but with the 290 it is now 2 decks. Added cost of compressors and condensers as well as all the ancillary parts that go with it makes me wonder how much more it costs? On the plus side, pressures are low (especially compared to 410 A) which should mean a longer lived unit. Time will tell. 290 does seem to work much better but now you have to have all kind of safeties in place incase of a leak. I have seen a refrigerator burned up from a leak that was triggered by a spark. Also, service ports are a no-no as a potential leak source. And as to how an ice machine works, it removes heat from the water, not make the water cold.

micheldemers
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The main disadvantage I have been told by several local installers is that, when something goes wrong, what trade do you call? Electrician, plumber, refrigeration technician.

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