Installed a mini split heat pump yesterday

[Woodwizard]

I bought a pioneer 12000 btu mini split heat pump. One for now to see how we like it so far it is great nice and quiet. This time of the year is not cold enough for the wood stove so we would have a small fire and still get the house too hot.

I have been looking at heat pumps for years the efficiency and reliability ratings are getting really good and we installed solar on my shop roof 6 years ago for electric it has worked very well about 80 percent of our electric comes from them including running my shop.

I did the installation myself the investment in a vacuum pump and manifold gauges for the line evacuation was around 150$ it paid for itself already.

I will be adding another 3KW of solar panels to my shop roof setup that will more than offset the heat pump and possibly two more next year.

[walkingman]

1. Congratulations! I've got 3 mini-split heat pumps and love them.

[Woodwizard]

3. Glad to hear that

How long have you had them and how are they in the middle of winter? I am in the southern Catskills NY lately winter averages are upper 20s low 30s with a few weeks of low teens and overnight below zero.

[walkingman]

5. My first was in 2010 - 18K, then anther in 2014 - 24K and then the last in 2019 - 18K

I did the installs myself and had a neighbor who is retired HVAC come and pull the vacuum and turn up. I live in the Austin area and they work fine. When the temp get down to about freezing not as well but still OK. I use a woodstove to supplement when it stays sub-freezing for several days but that is not very often. Check with your local HVAC folks and see how well they work in your area. They are very efficient (I have the inverter type).

[Woodwizard]

6. Thank you for the input.

Mine is an inverter type too I put a KW meter on the line it to track how much power it uses for the season I wave watched it ramp up and down depending on load, the cooling seer rating is 19 and heating HSPF is 9.5.

[gab13by13]

2. You are set,

Natural gas prices have gone up and are supposed to go up even more, that means propane prices will also rise. People are going to have to be smart like you. I did a mini cost saver by installing a 30k BTU gas heater in my basement which runs on a pilot light. I use it to warm the floors and my main gas furnace barely runs when I run the small heater.

[Woodwizard]

4. No natural gas availible here.

Propane is through the roof we have been heating with wood for the last 25 years here.

I designed my shop for sustainable heating I put radiant heat piping in the floor I have it connected to a 20'x8' hot water panel I made hanging on the south wall on a clear sunny day it puts out around 34000 btu of free heat. I converted a pellet stove to burn all my sawdust the shop uses no fossil fuel for heat at all. It is insulated to r38 even in the coldest days I can maintain 55 60 degrees in the 2400 sq ft building perfect working temperature.

[hunter]

7. I'm seriously considering this.

It probably wouldn't save any money, but it might reduce our environmental footprint.

We live in a mild climate where it rarely freezes and heat with gas.

Recently California has been discouraging the installation of gas appliances, not so much to reduce greenhouse gasses, but to reduce local air pollution.

Likewise, the EPA is no longer giving "Energy Star" awards to gas water heaters.

[Woodwizard]

8. We have propane and wood stove

The woodstove has always been the primary with the propane for when we are away. I did a calculation on what we spend on propane at 3.50 per gallon and the BTU value, the heat pump is half the cost in electricity at our rate of 23 cent a KWH with all fees and taxes. But I do not pay that rate currently 80 percent of our power is coming off the solar on my shop roof.

It would still make sense even if I was paying full electric rate I may soon be installing another one my wife loves it already, and she is resistant to new gadgets.

Friends of ours installed a heat pump water heater so far they love it.