this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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Sweet. I have oil-fired hydronic baseboard heat and indirect DHW. Live in Massachusetts. Does that mean they’ll be some good deals on moving to air-to-water heat pumps?
And what about the 1-3 days a year when ambient is outside of operating range? Bundle up in front of resistive space heaters?
I'm from North Carolina, heat pumps are pretty common here, I grew up in a heat pump only house.
The system has resistive strips, sometimes labelled "emergency heat" on the thermostat. Those can provide heat when the outside unit can't; and I believe they are used to defrost the outside unit.
There are "hybrid" systems that include a furnace rather than resistive heating elements. If it gets so cold the heat pump can't handle it, it lights the furnace. This is perhaps an upgrade for folks who live with an air conditioner plus furnace system; basically your furnace doesn't light as often, instead your air conditioner runs in reverse.
Where in North Carolina? I've grown up and west NC, have since moved to mid-NC, never seen a house with a heat pump.
The Sandhills is full of them.
Interesting. I wonder if they'll ever become common in the greater Charlotte area.
The climate is perfect for them. We've got folks from New England or Canada talking about adopting heat pumps, where it really does get so cold that it's a concern. Our +30F winters are perfectly acceptable for heat pumps year round, and most folks have forced air central AC anyway. It's really a no brainer here.
Usually, when the temps are too cold for Heat Pumps to work super effectively, they still work a bit, just not enough to fully keep up with demand. So you could absolutely use resistive space heaters to supplement, not be sole heat source.
MA already has a program in place. Look up MassSave. Bet case scenario you could qualify for a 10k rebate and a 7year 0% interest loan.
That actually sounds bangin. My only problem is I have underground electrical service and only 100A of it. I don’t even know where to start with that. Probably have to tear up my driveway and a bunch of trees to run a new service entry.
Ya that sounds rough. Maybe they ran higher gauge cable and skimped on the breaker?
I know electric work can be included in the loan for whatever that's worth.
Well that’s good to know. Will definitely have to look into it. My (oil) boiler and DHW are old as hell. I would love to go electric before they finally fail spectacularly and I get forced into replacing with more oil.
Exactly what I'm doing right now. Oil tank is rated for 30 years, and it's 32 years old.
Start here and get an energy assessment done. Took about 90min, we did it on a video call.
MassSave Home Energy Assessment
They are also going to upgrade our insulation to current standards. $3000 job but through them we are paying $526.44. Also we got some free power strips and shower heads and a smart thermostat upgrade.
If this whole heat pump install goes well I'm going to be telling literally everyone in MA to contact them...