Why Heat Pumps are Essential for the Future - Explained

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A better video on Heat pumps by Technology Connections, https://youtu.be/7J52mDjZzto

👍︎︎ 519 👤︎︎ u/Ven_ae 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies

Just a heads up to all my Massachusetts peeps, I work as a Home performance contractor and they are pushing heat pumps like crazy out here. They have a rebate of up to 10,000$ if you are converting from gas or oil to heat pumps as your primary source of heating/cooling. Check it https://www.masssave.com/en/saving/residential-rebates/heat-pump. Or if you have any questions dm me.

👍︎︎ 40 👤︎︎ u/jeremiahlupinski 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies

That channel is trash. The guy is constantly just regurgitating marketing material without asking himself if we're fed bullshit. And 95% of the time it's bullshit.

👍︎︎ 182 👤︎︎ u/LeMAD 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies

Small nitpick: R-410, not R-134 is the common refrigerant for residential climate control. R-134 is used in cars and refrigeration systems.

Heat pumps are spectacular on paper, and overall still pretty decent in real life. They have a higher failure rate due to the extra components and controls. When making an environmental choice, a slightly shorter lifespan must be figured in due to the CO2 impact of manufacturing the equipment.

Geothermal should be practical, but the economics are really iffy. If you can afford to go geo, you can afford spectacular insulation. Geos do all their shining over air-to-air heat pumps in the the hottest/coldest months. During spring and fall they are still a bit better, but not by a huge margin. If you have a very well insulated home, saving $40 for 4 months of a year can make it really problematic to pay off the 10-15k price premium over the life of the system. Also, they are exotic systems which means repairs are outrageous.

All only my opinions. Others will disagree. I've been an HVAC tech for 26yrs. I've installed and repaired geos for most of that. Since techs who are capable of working on geos are a bit rare, I have worked on A LOT of them. Even acknowledging the inherent sample bias, I do not strongly recommend them even for customers with generous budgets. I personally would not not have a current geo system even if I got it for the exact same price as a medium range conventional system. I would definitely build one myself though if I could get the drilling and ground loop for free. It would be a bit less efficient than an off the shelf, but far more robust.

👍︎︎ 88 👤︎︎ u/Orwellian1 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies

Air-to-air heatpumps are reasonably ubiquitous in Norway, and I'm pretty sure in the other Nordic countries as well (perhaps not Iceland, they might be all about that geothermal).

👍︎︎ 26 👤︎︎ u/Nimonic 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies

I live in Ireland and just built my home with a heat pump and UFH and heat recovery ventilation system. TBH this is standard now in Ireland the last 10 years. I am very happy with my system it's incredibly energy efficient. I can definitely answer more in depth questions than presented here if anyone is curious.

👍︎︎ 5 👤︎︎ u/eoin2dx 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies

There's an error at 5:05 in this video that is kinda infuriating. It equates -10c to -14F, which is wrong. -10c == +14F. The voiceover gets it right, but the video is wrong.

I'm not just being pedantic, that's a big temperature swing. Lots of places experience long stretches of weather within these ranges. If you live in the bottom half of Minnesota, you might see that and think "a heat pump can heat my home in all but the rarest possible cases" but actually it would be inadequate for large stretches of the winter. Even down in Iowa a heat pump isn't enough to warm an apartment for significant stretches of winter.

Don't get me wrong, fuck burning fossil fuels. Heat pumps should be everywhere. But this video will give the wrong impression of whether they can be an answer to home heating, and it makes me sad that this video has reached half a million views with this statistic in it.

👍︎︎ 14 👤︎︎ u/2_mch_tme_on_reddit 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies

Seriously considering an air-to-air when I buy a house soon.

Not because they are the cheapest or simplest or anything like that, but because that's the way things are going and better to do it now than wait.

House is currently all-electric (no gas), and it's quite small and just for me. It doesn't have any existing plumbed heating, it's all electric storage on the wall and quite old. And soon even gas boilers will be banned in the UK.

I figure if I'm going to have to remove the old stuff, that electricity prices are skyrocketing anyway and there's no system that's going to "profit" to make the money back, I may as well go for a sensible modern electric-powered option in the same direction that everything is going.

If it means having to insulate more, having to drop ÂŁ10k on a system, having to do a large amount of work anyway, and having to make some compromises, far better to just do it and get it over with than throw money away on energy for years while I um and arr about it.

I'd have liked to do an air-water system if there'd been existing water-based heating in the place, and then got some hot water out of it too, but there's not, and to be honest, I'll be heating precisely one room most of the time.

I'm not going to "save" any money on such a system, but if I'm having to change, it just seems sensible to change to something vaguely modern.

👍︎︎ 6 👤︎︎ u/ledow 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies

The US government is trying to push them here. Many rebates if you buy one over a conventional ac/furnace.

It's funny this video came up, because I just recently bought a heat pump, waiting for it to be installed Friday. And the price was just completely better than replacing the furnace and AC it wasn't even much of a decision between the two.

The technology is definitely getting much more prevalent here and spreading. Especially with the advances in the variable speed inverter technology, it's an obvious choice for most places, and for people afraid of cold snaps in the winter, you can buy a dual-fuel setup, but they really aren't needed 99% of the time.

👍︎︎ 3 👤︎︎ u/ZDTreefur 📅︎︎ Jun 15 2022 đź—«︎ replies
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This video is brought to you by Curiosity Stream. Many of us still rely on fossil fuels for  heating our homes, either by burning something like natural gas for heat or by using it to  produce electricity to power space heaters and air conditioners. Typical resistive electric  heat is 100% efficient. For every Watt you put in, you get 1 joule of heat out. However, we have a  solution that could move 3-5x more heat than the electricity we put into it. Heat pumps are an  amazing piece of counter-intuitive technology that can be 300-500% efficient. In the past  they struggled in more extreme conditions, but things have come a long way since then.  How well do heat pumps actually work? And should we be using them everywhere? Let’s  see if we can come to a decision on this. I’m Matt Ferrell … welcome to Undecided. I’m in the process of starting  to build a new net zero home and have been spending way too much time looking  into getting the most efficient setup I can. The rabbit hole I went down sent  me on a strange path through the world of heat pumps … where I discovered  some things I didn’t know were an option. Heating and cooling systems are one of  the largest sources of energy use in most homes around the globe. In Europe, they  represent 50% of the total energy consumption, with approximately 80% still based on  fossil fuels. Here in the U.S. heating and cooling electricity use is lower at  around 31%, but that’s still substantial, and many homes are still heated directly using  natural gas and oil. Just the U.S. alone is producing about 441 million tons of carbon dioxide  annually just from our heating and cooling needs. But what if there was a technology  that didn’t require fossil fuels … and seemingly breaks the laws of physics  by producing more heating energy than the electricity put into it?  Enter the crazy world of heat pumps. In the world of physics you have something  called the conservation of energy. In a nutshell, the energy within a closed system must remain  constant … you can’t create or destroy energy. You can only move it. At a surface level,  heat pumps seem to defy this rule because you can get 3-5x more heat energy out of a heat  pump for every kW of electricity you put into it, but it’s not creating heat energy it’s only moving  it. You’re essentially using 1 Watt of electricity to move 3-5 joules of heat. For instance, heat  pumps extract heat from the outside air or ground to heat the inside of a home or office building.  They can also operate in reverse to chill your house, just like an air conditioner. They move  the heat from inside your home back into the ground or outside air. In essence, a heat pump  is simply a series of heat exchangers, moving hot air out of the house during the cooling cycles  and hot air into the house during warming cycles. We’ll start by taking a look at how  heat pumps heat and cool our homes, but there are some other interesting  ways we can put heat pumps to work in our everyday lives. We’ll go  through two of those as well. So let’s start with the first area, which I’ve  already touched on, heating and cooling your home. The most common type of heat pump used  for this purpose is air-to-air heat pumps. These pumps are pretty similar  to air conditioning systems, but in order to provide both heating  and cooling, a reversing valve is used. In heating mode, the outdoor unit blows air  over a refrigerant flowing through tubes, which boils at very low temperatures (the  common fluid used, R134a, has a boiling point of -26.3ºC or about -15ºF). As the refrigerant  heats up it begins to turn into a vapor. A compressor is used to increase the pressure  and temperature of the refrigerant and vapor. As the vapor moves into the evaporator,  it releases heat into the room, which turns the vapor back into a  liquid … and that cycle continues. In cooling mode, it’s basically reversing  the flow of that system. Heat is extracted from the inside of the home, turning the  refrigerant into a vapor, which is compressed and sent outside where the fan blows over the  coils moving the heat into the outside air. Air source heat pumps achieve great efficiency  levels, with a coefficient of performance (COP) of 3.0 - 4.0. It means that for  every 1 Watt of electricity, 3 to 4 joules of heat is achieved. Comparatively,  a high-efficiency boiler powered with oil or gas achieves about 85% … a COP below 1. That’s  actually what I have at home today: a natural gas furnace that’s around 85% efficient. I’m going  to be changing that soon, but more on that later. Heat pumps are very flexible and can work with  forced air, as well as underfloor or radiator systems, but you may need a larger size radiator  to ensure that its surface area is large enough for releasing enough heat into the room.  And unlike natural gas and oil furnaces, heat pumps are environmentally friendly  since they don't release any harmful gasses. However, the major challenges for making heat  pumps the mainstream choice are the upfront cost, reduced efficiency in very cold  climates (depending on the technology), and also lack of regulations in some parts of  the globe. According to Energy Saving Trust, an air source heat pump for a four-bedroom  detached home located in Northern Ireland could annually provide £4,300 (about $5,600) in savings and avoid 6.5 tons of CO2 emissions  when compared to an old (G rated) LPG boiler. Comparatively, in the US, an average homeowner can  save between $815 - $929 per year by replacing an electric furnace and oil boiler with a heat pump.  However, if you consider a natural gas boiler, the savings are lower since gas is so cheap,  which means a savings of about $200 per year. Although heat pumps are usually a more efficient  alternative to traditional heating systems, they won’t be able to accomplish those high COPs  everywhere. When the ambient temperature drops to -10ºC (about 14ºF) or lower, the heat pump's  electric power consumption rate increases to ensure the heat pump's optimal operation.  On top of that, at very low temperatures, frost can accumulate over the outdoor coil,  which can reduce efficiency. HVAC installers suggest installing a small resistant electric  heater to the system in order to complement the operation of heat pumps in some locations for  the coldest days of the year. In those cases, heat pump systems still come out ahead for  efficiency over the course of a year. The end result is that the savings depend on the location  and climate of the installation. Some states, particularly in the southeastern part of the  country benefit more than states like Wisconsin. Another type of heat pump is the ground-to-air  heat pump, which I've explored in my Geothermal Heating and Cooling video. I’m actually looking  into installing one of these in my new home, by the way. I’m building a net-zero, super  efficient house this year, so be sure to subscribe if you want to see videos on  that. One of the assessments performed while planning our HVAC system, estimated  that our yearly operating costs for heat, air conditioning, and hot water would be about  $2,121/year for an air-to-air heat pump system. A geothermal system by comparison would  cost us about $1,175 a year to operate. In basic principle, geothermal systems  work the same way as air-to-air, but a liquid is circulated through tubes deep  into the ground. They’re also highly efficient, with a COP from 3 to 5, but their  problem is the high upfront cost, which ranges from $10,000 to  $30,000, according to EnergySage, but it can go even higher. It’s mainly due to the  cost of digging or drilling to install the ground loops. These costs increase with deeper holes,  tighter spaces and other such considerations. Although they are costly when compared  to traditional fossil fuel systems, they can save between 25% and  50% on heating and cooling costs. According to the Department of Energy, they  have a payback period of 5-10 years and can work efficiently basically everywhere since the ground  has lower temperature variations compared to air. Heat pumps aren’t just about space  heating and cooling your home. But before getting to those, I'd like to thank  today's sponsor, CuriosityStream. If you'd like to watch more videos on topics just like this, you  really should check it out. They have thousands of documentaries and non-fiction shows on pretty  much every topic you can think of. If you enjoy science and technology, which I'm assuming you  do, they have documentaries like "Engineering the Future," which explores everything from the  future of flight, to tidal energy, to solar, as well as one of the world’s largest wind  farms being built off the English coast. CuriosityStream really does  have something for everyone, including 35 collections handpicked by  experts, including some award winning exclusives and originals. Best of all is that  you can stream to any device, anytime, anywhere. It really is smart TV for your SmartTV. And they  have a special offer for all of you if you sign up with the code Undecided, you'll get an entire  year for just $14.99. That's an incredible deal. Link is in the description below and thanks  to CuriosityStream, and to all of you, for supporting the channel. So back to two other  areas where heat pumps are making a difference... They can also be used to generate hot water, especially if you combine it with  your heating and cooling system. They can be integrated into hot water heaters,  immersion heaters, and circulation pumps. Standalone heat pump water heaters  are an efficient alternative that can provide considerable electricity savings.  While tankless water heaters are popular, they have a long return on  investment of 15 to 18 years, whereas hybrid water heaters have a  return on investment of 4 to 7 years with a life span of about 15 years. In addition,  they include a backup electric resistance heater in case the ambient air isn't warm enough to  heat the water to the desired temperature. However, you have to take into consideration where  they’re installed. They have to be installed in an area of your property where the temperature  ranges from 40ºF - 90ºF (4.4ºC - 32.2ºC), and they require at least 1,000 cubic feet  (28.3 cubic meters) of air space around the water heater to operate to spec. This  works out great for a garage installation, but not for installation in a small utility  closet. Another potential problem, or benefit depending on where they’re installed, is that  these hybrid heaters extract heat from the ambient air where they’re installed, which makes the room  colder. That might be something you actually want. They can provide energy savings from $200 to  $600 per year for homeowners. The cost of a 50-gallon tank is about $1,200 and $2,500  for an 80-gallon tank, but the prices vary with the size and product quality. In  addition, you can expect to spend about $600 to $800 with labor costs to install  a standalone water heater. However, there may be incentives and rebates where you live,  like the federal government’s $300 tax credit. According to the Department of Energy, the average  heat pump style hot water heater costs roughly $225 per year to operate, compared to $400-800  for many traditional tank hot water heaters. According to Energy Star, the average cost of  running a hybrid electric heat pump water heater for a household of four is $300 per year, compared  to $600 for standard electric water heaters. The US-based company Rheem produces several models  of standalone water heaters which can provide $491 per year in energy savings,  qualify for local utility rebates, and are 4x more efficient than  conventional electric water heaters. Some even come with built-in Wi-Fi to connect to a  smartphone app for more control and tracking use. One of my Patrons, Paul, who runs the  website TinkerTry has documented his experience living with one of these water heaters. Three years ago, my natural  gas water heater failed. Gladly, I was able to find a Rheem hybrid  electric water heater installer who got the replacement price down to about the same  cost as a new gas heater, using my state's $750 incentive coupon. We were able to ditch our  basement’s dehumidifier, re-using that same drain line. The occasional fridge-like noise wasn’t  a problem as it's in our unfinished back-area. Using Rheem’s Econet app, I was able  to figure we've been running at about 195 dollars a year, for electrically heated hot water handling 2.5 showers a day on average, and all our other hot water use. If you’d like to see more  details about his experience, I’ll include a link in the  description to his website. And finally, the third area where  heat pumps are gaining some traction, and one that I wasn't aware of until recently  is in laundry. Heat pump style clothes dryers, or ventless dryers if we want to be more specific,  are becoming more popular. Instead of venting warm, humid air to the outside of the house, which  is a huge efficiency hit to your entire home, a heat pump dryer runs it through an evaporator to  remove the moisture without losing too much heat. There are some great pros to changing to a  ventless dryer, like nearly silent operation, no need for exterior venting,  and much higher efficiency. These heat pump dryers use refrigerant in  condenser coils, making them 28%-50% more energy-efficient than standard dryers,  and they can be installed in a closet, placed under a counter, or stacked in  a corner since they don’t need venting. Obviously, there are cons. The big one is that  these heat pump dryers cost twice as much as traditional dryers. Another is that since  they don’t get as hot as a traditional dryer, it can take a little longer to fully dry your  clothes, but even with the added drying time the overall energy use is still lower. That  con kind of comes down to your patience level. Companies like GE and Miele have already  started to sell ventless dryers here in the US. They’re far more common in  Europe. Miele, for example, manufactures several models of heat pump  dryers that range in price from £899 to £2,799. GE offers four models with interesting  features, like sensor dry technology that monitors moisture and temperature continuously  to avoid wear and tear on your clothes caused by over-drying and inconsistent heat. The prices  of GE ventless dryers range from $999 to $1419. At the end of the day, the cost per load  of laundry for a traditional electric dryer can be between $0.53 - $0.55. A gas  dryer comes in around $0.38 - $0.39. And a heat pump dryer spins in around  $0.17 - $0.33. While heat pump dryers may cost more upfront, they’ll definitely  save you money over time … and on that note, they last a much longer time. In some cases the  lifespan is almost double that of a traditional electric or gas dryer. Something to  factor into your decision making. So with these three key areas for homeowners  to adopt heat pumps, how does future adoption look? The global heat pump market is predicted  to grow at a CAGR of 8.1% from 2022 to 2030, with a market value of $67.7 billion in 2021. But  with new government incentives like tax credits and rebates, this market may grow even faster.  Washington, for example, has updated its energy code and became the first state in the U.S. to  require energy-efficient electric heat pumps over traditional furnaces and water heaters. The rules  apply to new four-story commercial and multifamily residential buildings and starts in July 2022.  In most cases, the new rules effectively ban some standard HVAC systems, like natural gas, as  well as less efficient heating systems that use electric resistance. According to a Rocky Mountain  Institute analysis, the new required shift toward electric heat pumps could save an estimated  8.1 million tons of carbon emissions by 2050 (the equivalent of taking nearly 1.6  million cars off the road for a year). As I mentioned, I’m building a new net-zero  home and am definitely getting a heat pump installed for heating and cooling (most  likely a ground source system), as well as for hot water and our dryer. If powered  with renewable energy, which they will be, I'm getting solar those heat pumps will be carbon-free … and saving  me money. Heat pumps have an important role to play in our net zero future. I guess you could  say that I’m all in on heat pumps and think we should heat pump all the things. So stay tuned if  you want to see how that goes later in the year. So what do you think? Do you think we need  to heat pump all the things? Jump into the comments and let me know. If you liked  this video, be sure to check out one of these videos over here. And thanks to all  of my patrons for your continued support. And thanks to all of you for watching.  I’ll see you in the next one.
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Channel: Undecided with Matt Ferrell
Views: 1,282,860
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: air source heat pump grants 2021, air source heat pump noise, air source heat pump water heater, ground source heat pump, heat pump, heat pump water heater, heat pumps, heat pumps explained, heat pumps the future of home heating, how a heat pump works, how does a heat pump work, how heat pumps work, hvac, hvac basics, net zero carbon emissions, renewable energy, renewable heat incentive, undecided with matt ferrell
Id: 73qzU8vOc4U
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 14min 21sec (861 seconds)
Published: Tue Jun 07 2022
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