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From: johnt@tekecs.UUCP (John Theus)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Heat pump/water heater energy conservation
Message-ID: <5885@tekecs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 18-Dec-85 21:15:08 EST
Article-I.D.: tekecs.5885
Posted: Wed Dec 18 21:15:08 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Dec-85 04:58:03 EST
References: <237@neurad.UUCP> <728@decuac.UUCP>
Reply-To: johnt@tekecs.UUCP (John Theus)
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 34

>In article <237@neurad.UUCP>, donn@neurad.UUCP (Donn S. Fishbein) writes:
>
>(extract really) heat.  If the temperature in the room and the temperature
>you want is more than 4 (settable) degrees, it kicks in the heating
>coils (furnace) to get the house up to the desired range and then maintains
>it with the compressor.  If the temperature ever drops below 4 degrees
>under the set temperature, again the coils are used.  And most have an

We're in the process of building a new house, and have done some research
on heat pumps.  What is said above is typically true, but there are better
solutions.  Heat pump thermostats are available that make to easy and
economical to set back the temperature.  The processor in the thermostat
runs an algorithm that minimizes the use of the resistive heating elements.

If you want the temperature raised to normal from the night time set back
at 8 am, then the thermostat starts running the compressor early enough
before 8 am so that the normal house temperature is reached at 8.  The
resistive coils are never used to raise the temperature, even though the
temperature delta is greater than 4 degrees.

For hot water heating, the most efficient heater is a heat pump hot water
heater.  These units are available as either retrofits to existing electric
heaters, or as a monolithic tank and heat pump.   The heat pump water heater
extracts energy from the air in the vicinity of the tank.  Usually a large
closet has sufficient air volume.

While a normal electric hot water heater is 100% efficient in converting
electricity to heat, a heat pump hot water heater is about 300% efficient.
The main drawback with these units is their cost, they usually run in the
range of $800 to $1200.

John Theus		tektronix!tekecs!johnt
Graphics Workstations
Tektronix, Inc.