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Xringer · 03-24-10, 02:00 PM

"Heating (attempting) with ASHP is probably nuts"..

That's what I was thinking, until I looked at the City Data for my town..

25degF average low in Jan isn't that all that cold..

Elko, Nevada isn't too bad, with an average low of about 24degF.

Boise looks good too. 23degF in Jan is the coldest (on average).
Climate in Boise, Idaho

I think you might have enough spare heat in the air to get some good BTUh out of it.
And on those really cold mornings, just go to the back-up until the sun
warms things up.

My Sanyo did a pretty good job down around 20 degrees and it wasn't
even working right.

And of course, it uses such a small amount of power when it's coasting,
our heating cost for Dec was a lot lower than I expected.

If my replacement unit comes in soon, I'll be able to save some heating oil
for the rest of this heating season anyways..

Anyways, ASHP always needs a backup heater (everything actually needs
some kind of backup).
It's a bit of a compromise, not to have the HP working on -2 degree mornings,
and have to go to the backup. But when you compare the install cost
(and even the hardware cost) of a GSHP, the mini-split shines..

One other trade-off is snow. When the snow is really coming down,
when it's really getting cold, I tried to switch over to oil and avoid ice on the coil..
When the heavy snow stops, it was right back on..

Since I've got the hybrid capability, I can open the check-valve on my
main hot-water loop and run the oil at a very low BTU level.
Not burning enough oil to keep us warm with it's 4 or 5 degrees outside,
but, just enough to allow the Sanyo to coast at low power..
Both of them loafing along together can keep it toasty..

03-24-10, 02:00 PM	#3
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	"Heating (attempting) with ASHP is probably nuts".. That's what I was thinking, until I looked at the City Data for my town.. 25degF average low in Jan isn't that all that cold.. Elko, Nevada isn't too bad, with an average low of about 24degF. Boise looks good too. 23degF in Jan is the coldest (on average). Climate in Boise, Idaho I think you might have enough spare heat in the air to get some good BTUh out of it. And on those really cold mornings, just go to the back-up until the sun warms things up. My Sanyo did a pretty good job down around 20 degrees and it wasn't even working right. And of course, it uses such a small amount of power when it's coasting, our heating cost for Dec was a lot lower than I expected. If my replacement unit comes in soon, I'll be able to save some heating oil for the rest of this heating season anyways.. Anyways, ASHP always needs a backup heater (everything actually needs some kind of backup). It's a bit of a compromise, not to have the HP working on -2 degree mornings, and have to go to the backup. But when you compare the install cost (and even the hardware cost) of a GSHP, the mini-split shines.. One other trade-off is snow. When the snow is really coming down, when it's really getting cold, I tried to switch over to oil and avoid ice on the coil.. When the heavy snow stops, it was right back on.. Since I've got the hybrid capability, I can open the check-valve on my main hot-water loop and run the oil at a very low BTU level. Not burning enough oil to keep us warm with it's 4 or 5 degrees outside, but, just enough to allow the Sanyo to coast at low power.. Both of them loafing along together can keep it toasty..