Re: Cost effective heat pumps

[Robin Newberry <robin.newberry@x-net.net>]

>If you enjoy playing with this, have fun! [I once built a number of small
>heat pumps from scratch]. However nothing beats good thermal design and
>insulation and this is, in part, what strawbale is about. Remember also
>that typically for every hundred watts of electricity you use 200 watts
>is thrown out in power genertion and transmission so to get 100 watts you
>burn 300 watts worth of coal etc.,.

I've not been following this thread terribly closely, so pardon me if I ask
a question that's already been answered. I've only recently had any exposure
to heat pumps - I've always been blessed with Natural Gas heat - but so far
my opinion of them is dismal. It costs me more with a heat pump to heat a
smaller, better insulated, house to a lower temperature than I ever spent
with gas. Even when you take into account the cooling season (which is
fairly long in the Carolinas, even in the mountains) and having a separate
AC system, heat pumps seem more expensive and less efficient. What gives?
Have I just run into a bum unit, or what?

Robin Newberry
1966 Sedan "Gretchen"
robin.newberry@x-net.net

"My employer disavows any knowledge of my actions, 
disputes my existence, and refuses to say 'hi' when 
we pass in the hall."