I have been heating with anthracite coal for over 30 years now. I'm in Massachusetts, and New England gets pretty cold during the winter months. I heat with a coal furnace (easy to use) and it keeps the house warm even when it's 10 degrees out. Anthracite coal burns clean (no smoke coming out of my chimney), but I know how much CO2 it emits. I decided to do some research on "heat pumps". I'm being told that they have improved, and if it turns very cold, the new heat pumps can handle it. I looked at reviews that people have written from Maine and Vermont who have installed the pumps, and they say that they work pretty well in the cold weather. Thinking about my "carbon footprint" of how I heat my home, I decided to have a company come in who installs heat pumps. Plus, there's a law in Massachusetts now, if you build a new home, you can only heat with heat pumps. No oil, gas, wood, or coal. The company comes in and says , "don't believe everything you read. The heat pump will not be able to handle the cold weather in January/February. You would need a second heat source, and your electric bill will be three times more than it is now. (Massachusetts has some of the highest electric rates in the country)". He told me that he was just being honest - and this is a guy who sells and installs them. So, it looks like I'm not going to make a change, unless I don't have a coal supplier.
Hooked on heating oil: Pushing for heat pumps and weatherization
Efficient electric heat pumps can help replace the oil Maine depends on, but many homes need complex insulation overhauls or extra aid.www.themainemonitor.org
It pretty well backs up my recommendations to have a backup to cold climate minisplits. Plenty of folks getting paid to say otherwise but more than few folks have learned the hard way that the actual performance ont he ground just doesnt work very well when its below zero. A great secondary heat source, but make darn sure there is cold temperature backup.
Cold Climate Heat Pump Article
- Thread starter peakbagger
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
I sure would throw in a vented oil heater for cold weather. They are super reliable and easy install. The brand everyone was familiar with was Monitor but they got out of the business but Toyotomi (Toyostove) runs on kerosene or low sulfur heating oil.
There are two statements made here by the installer. One of them may be valid, one of them is complete b.s. The two statements are:
- Heat pumps won't work in cold weather.
- Heat pumps will cost you a lot because electricity is expensive in MA.
Regarding 2, I don't know what rate you pay, but there are on-line calculators that can tell you operating costs. At -5 degrees F, your coefficient of performance (output BTU / input BTU) will be about 1.8, but at warmer temperatures (above 10 degrees, which is most of the winter) you will average about 3 to 4 COP (if you just used 3.5 as an average you will be pretty safe in the calculation).
Thanks for your input! I already found another supplier and I'm going with the Fujitsu model, and I already had the thought of burning the anthracite during the months of January/February. Thanks again.
