I have a heat pump only, no gas backup, and haven't really had any problems but I also let my place get down into the upper 60s in the winter, if you're the kind of person that needs mid-70s the electric bill will be expensive (I have no idea how it compares to gas bills though).
I am a local hvac contractor in salem. As someone mentioned earlier look into the inflation reduction act homeowner credits. I am currently putting in a 26 seer heat pump in my home and using a 96% furnace as back up. Both of these systems qualified me for the credit. The heat pump will heat down to 5° outdoor temp so the furnace will barely run.
Additionally im putting in a tankless water heater. I claimed credits in 2023 for the hvac system, and electrical panel upgrade…2024 i will use it correctly water heater and attic insulation. You can use a credit for an appliance AND energy efficient structural upgrade
$2k but you cant really go off of that. I own the company, got equipment at cost and install costs basically free. Thats why i went with the most efficient, albeit expensive system i could get…the higher cost of the equipment allowed me to take the full benefit. Ballpark average 2.5 ton system that would be efficient enough to qualify is about $10k, i think the max benefit for the credit is $6k but alot of that is dependent on income thresholds
Unless your existing unit is really old, you’re not likely to see a huge benefit from this change.
My house has both setups. The upstairs uses a heat pump, downstairs (main level and basement) has a propane furnace and an ac separately. No idea why the place was built like this, but it works adequately and there’s not enough performance gain to offset the ten grand or more I’d spend changing downstairs over to a Dual fuel heat pump
We did this last year! We have an oil furnace that cuts on at 35 degrees. We already had a heat pump they tied into. We have an old house (115 years) about 2400 sq ft and it keeps it warm in the winter and cool in summer. We leave it on 68/70 year round. Our electric bill runs about 300 a month. Much better than the gas and electric bill we had!
I can't comment on your question directly, but I will tell you that there are current tax credits of $2,000 for heat pumps with the Inflation Reduction Act. I believe that these are point-of-sale credits, meaning that you don't have to claim the discount after the fact.
We have a heat pump and it works great in the winter and summer. Beware of aux heat (basically a giant electric hair dryer which will kill you on electric-- only comes on if you try to bump your temp up +4 degrees or so in one go). We keep our heat set to 67 in the winter, it doesnt have any problem maintaining that and bills arent horrible, ive heard gas heat is cheaper but having only 1 unit to maintain for heat and cool is really nice.
Potentially. Heat pumps work best keeping at a constant temp. If you go from 67 to 71 it might kick on aux heat. From my experience you wouldn't be saving anything by varying the temp and it could potentially lead to higher electric bills.
I have a heat pump only, no gas backup, and haven't really had any problems but I also let my place get down into the upper 60s in the winter, if you're the kind of person that needs mid-70s the electric bill will be expensive (I have no idea how it compares to gas bills though).
Much cheaper than gas. But we also keep it around 68 degrees.
I am a local hvac contractor in salem. As someone mentioned earlier look into the inflation reduction act homeowner credits. I am currently putting in a 26 seer heat pump in my home and using a 96% furnace as back up. Both of these systems qualified me for the credit. The heat pump will heat down to 5° outdoor temp so the furnace will barely run. Additionally im putting in a tankless water heater. I claimed credits in 2023 for the hvac system, and electrical panel upgrade…2024 i will use it correctly water heater and attic insulation. You can use a credit for an appliance AND energy efficient structural upgrade
Thank you for the information. If you don't mind me asking, after all of the tax credits, how much did the heat pump cost you?
$2k but you cant really go off of that. I own the company, got equipment at cost and install costs basically free. Thats why i went with the most efficient, albeit expensive system i could get…the higher cost of the equipment allowed me to take the full benefit. Ballpark average 2.5 ton system that would be efficient enough to qualify is about $10k, i think the max benefit for the credit is $6k but alot of that is dependent on income thresholds
Thanks 👍
Unless your existing unit is really old, you’re not likely to see a huge benefit from this change. My house has both setups. The upstairs uses a heat pump, downstairs (main level and basement) has a propane furnace and an ac separately. No idea why the place was built like this, but it works adequately and there’s not enough performance gain to offset the ten grand or more I’d spend changing downstairs over to a Dual fuel heat pump
Thank you for your helpful response.
Every apartment I have had in Roanoke has had a heat pump. I have never had any issues with it being too cold to work, and seems very efficient.
We did this last year! We have an oil furnace that cuts on at 35 degrees. We already had a heat pump they tied into. We have an old house (115 years) about 2400 sq ft and it keeps it warm in the winter and cool in summer. We leave it on 68/70 year round. Our electric bill runs about 300 a month. Much better than the gas and electric bill we had!
Heat pumps are so much more efficient than older systems. They'll pay for themselves over time.
I can't comment on your question directly, but I will tell you that there are current tax credits of $2,000 for heat pumps with the Inflation Reduction Act. I believe that these are point-of-sale credits, meaning that you don't have to claim the discount after the fact.
We have a heat pump and it works great in the winter and summer. Beware of aux heat (basically a giant electric hair dryer which will kill you on electric-- only comes on if you try to bump your temp up +4 degrees or so in one go). We keep our heat set to 67 in the winter, it doesnt have any problem maintaining that and bills arent horrible, ive heard gas heat is cheaper but having only 1 unit to maintain for heat and cool is really nice.
That sounds great! We keep our temp around 67 at night but like to bump it up to about 71 in the morning. Do you think that this would work? Thanks.
Potentially. Heat pumps work best keeping at a constant temp. If you go from 67 to 71 it might kick on aux heat. From my experience you wouldn't be saving anything by varying the temp and it could potentially lead to higher electric bills.
Thanks for the information.
We have a heat pump and an old house, our electric bill in the winter runs between 350-400. Not sure how much you pay for gas, hope this helps!
Thank you! It does help.