Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - new heat pump, huge energy bill!
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crooked1
01-25-09, 10:29 PM
We just got a new heat pump and all new duct work installed this past Aug '08. The house is in NC, used to have oil furnace. The heat pump is the only heat source for this house, which is about 2800 sq ft. It is over 100 yrs old, so insulation is not good, and it has old windows.
Anyway, as it started getting down to 30 degrees in Dec we found out the heating coil wasn't working, so when the temp dipped the house wouldn't get above 63 degrees even when tstat set at 70. That was fixed Dec 21, and our electric bill was at least $100 higher than we expected. We keep the tstat at constant temp. This month we thought it would be better, but the electric bill is even higher ($360 )(electric company estimates about 250 from heating), this is way more than our old oil furnace and electric combined, and we even have insulated ducts now. The bill states we used 4330 kWh in one month. This seems high, esp with only 2 people in the house, we don't keep lights on all the time. In Aug and Sept we averaged about 1000 kWh. Is it normal to use 4 times as much in the winter?
Is it ok to have a heat pump without any other heat source? My father lives in MN and says there should always be another source of heat for colder days, but our HVAC guys said this is not necessary in NC.
Anyway, as it started getting down to 30 degrees in Dec we found out the heating coil wasn't working, so when the temp dipped the house wouldn't get above 63 degrees even when tstat set at 70. That was fixed Dec 21, and our electric bill was at least $100 higher than we expected. We keep the tstat at constant temp. This month we thought it would be better, but the electric bill is even higher ($360 )(electric company estimates about 250 from heating), this is way more than our old oil furnace and electric combined, and we even have insulated ducts now. The bill states we used 4330 kWh in one month. This seems high, esp with only 2 people in the house, we don't keep lights on all the time. In Aug and Sept we averaged about 1000 kWh. Is it normal to use 4 times as much in the winter?
Is it ok to have a heat pump without any other heat source? My father lives in MN and says there should always be another source of heat for colder days, but our HVAC guys said this is not necessary in NC.
badtlc
01-26-09, 06:37 AM
What kind of t-stat are you using? What is the temperature lockout for the heat pump? Is that controlled through an outdoor t-stat or through the indoor t-stat?
dac122
01-26-09, 07:47 AM
Just to verify, do you have heat strips in your air handler as backup/auxilliary/emergency heat? If not sure and you switch your tstat to EM or AUX and bump up temp to kick on the system is the air much warmer?
crooked1
01-26-09, 08:38 PM
Thanks for your replies.
We are using the tstat the HVAC guys installed, just a basic digital nonprogrammable one. We moved out of state a few weeks ago and my in-laws are now in the house where this heat pump is, so I can't look at the brand. I can ask them tomorrow.
There are heat strips--they were not working until Dec 21 when we had the HVAC guys back out d/t the house not getting above 63 degrees when outside temp below 32 degrees. Apparently they were not getting any power. They are working now. We thought the reason for the high electric bill from Nov-Dec was that the heat strips were not working, but the Dec 18 -Jan 22 was even worse.
As far as the temp lockout, I honestly have no idea. How do you know if it's controlled by an outdoor or indoor tstat? The HVAC installers did not explain anything about the heat pump. I didn't know it was much different from any furnace, etc.
I guess I will have to call the HVAC guy, but he is hard to get a hold of and not much help over the phone. That's why I've been looking here.
We are using the tstat the HVAC guys installed, just a basic digital nonprogrammable one. We moved out of state a few weeks ago and my in-laws are now in the house where this heat pump is, so I can't look at the brand. I can ask them tomorrow.
There are heat strips--they were not working until Dec 21 when we had the HVAC guys back out d/t the house not getting above 63 degrees when outside temp below 32 degrees. Apparently they were not getting any power. They are working now. We thought the reason for the high electric bill from Nov-Dec was that the heat strips were not working, but the Dec 18 -Jan 22 was even worse.
As far as the temp lockout, I honestly have no idea. How do you know if it's controlled by an outdoor or indoor tstat? The HVAC installers did not explain anything about the heat pump. I didn't know it was much different from any furnace, etc.
I guess I will have to call the HVAC guy, but he is hard to get a hold of and not much help over the phone. That's why I've been looking here.
crooked1
01-26-09, 09:13 PM
I don't know if it will make a difference, but we have an AirEase 2 PHP 13 E48P-1A.
dac122
01-27-09, 07:02 AM
My gut says your HP should be able to maintain temp at 30F. Below that temp I would expect your aux to kick in some. If your aux was working at least partly all along and your balance point on the thermostat set high (say 30-40F) then you will have high electric bills. I'm also not sure what you were told regarding how high your bills would be.
If you cannot get answers from this guy it is time to call someone else for a second opinion.
If you cannot get answers from this guy it is time to call someone else for a second opinion.