After months of trying, we were finally able to get a Trane Heat Pump! Jimmy, Scott’s brother, is an HVAC guy and was able to get one for us wholesale.
Our old A/C had been in use for 22 years and it was time to replace it. Jimmy and Scott had installed the Bryant high efficiency natural gas furnace in 2009 with the ability to support a heat pump, called a Hybrid Heat Split System. We were waiting until we had enough solar panels to power it, which happened in September 2021. Then we had to wait for the supply chain kinks to work out in order to secure a unit, which we got in winter 2022. Jimmy and Scott installed it in May and we used it for the first time in June 2022. As of this writing, we have been using the system for 8 months.
What is a Heat Pump?
A heat pump works differently than a conventional heat and A/C (HVAC) system. Instead of making hot air, it moves hot air–a brilliant idea that makes very efficient use of the electricity used to power the unit. It looks like this:
In winter a heat pump moves warm air into your home and pulls cold air out; in summer the process reverses and warm air is pulled out while cool air moves in. The basic idea is that heat is attracted to cold, so the coolant in the system collects heat and then transfers it in or out depending on the season.
Then What is a Hybrid Heat Split System?
Unless you live in a moderate climate, a heat pump isn’t enough to provide all your heating needs. In the winter, it is usually backed up by a natural gas furnace in colder climates like ours here in Reno. We have set our thermostat to use the Bryant gas furnace when temperatures outside are lower than 40 degrees F. We tried setting it to 35 initially, but found out that was a very inefficient use of electricity after we used all our banked electricity and got a $200 power bill! It turns out that the heat pump has to work very hard to exract heat at temps below 40 and it uses too much electricity, so it’s best to use the gas furnace instead. NOTE: We have a ducted system which is less efficient than a ductless (mini-split) system. Next year we will add a mini-split to our bedroom and see how it does in the dead of winter.
During the warmer afternoons of winter and the shoulder seasons of fall and spring, the heat pump can take over heating our home.
What It Cost
Wholesale Cost of Trane 5-ton Heat Pump $5,317
Cost to run new line set, add new coil, and change refrigerant $2,000
Honeywell Thermostat $268
Trane Tech to Check System Function $284
Total Cost $7,869
Less Federal Tax Rebate: $200
Net Cost $7,659
Compare this to the cost of replacing our old A/C with a new one:
Cost of Average New A/C $2200
Cost to run new line set, add new coil, and change refrigerant $2,000
Total Cost: $4,200
Additional Cost of the Heat Pump: $7,659 – $4,200 = $3,459
NOTE: This system was purchased at wholesale by Scott’s brother and installed by them with some additional paid assistance. This significantly reduced our costs. We would have had to run new line set, add a new coil and change the refrigerant either way.
In general, these systems more than pay for themselves over the course of their lives because they reduce your overall energy bills. Our system is a little different because we produce our own electricity. For us, this system works in synergy with all our other systems to further reduce our use of natural gas and our carbon footprint. We will have to see if we generate enough electricity to cover the additional needs of our heat pumps, plus driving two electric cars. Stay tuned to find out!
How We Heat and Cool Our Home
Prior to 2013, our main source of heat was the Bryant high-efficiency gas furnace. Since then we’ve been tweaking our heating system by adding zone heating. Our first addition was a Lopi Ben Franklin style gas stove (below) that we added to our living room (also Scott’s office area). It keeps the front of our home toasty, really lovely for my morning practice and our evening time during chilly nights. It is very efficient and we keep it set at 70 when we are awake. During the day, this south-facing room is warmed by the sun (when it isn’t cloudy), so the Lopi gets a break. When we go to bed, we set both the main thermostat and the Lopi to 62. The front room where the Lopi is gets colder than the center of the house, so most nights it keeps the house warm enough that the main heating system doesn’t come on until about 5-5:30 a.m. In the mornings, the Lopi helps bring the temp up so the main heating system can shut down after taking the night chill off the house. This happens around 9:00 a.m. when we turn the main thermostat down to 65 and the Lopi and EdenPURE (see below) take over.
In 2019 we added an EdenPURE infrared, copper heater to our kitchen/dining room area (which is also my office area). When the temperature is below 40 degrees outside, we use this heater. Between it and the Lopi, the front part of the house where we hang out during the day is always around 70 degrees. We turn off the EdenPURE when the heat pump kicks on at 40 degrees during the warmer days in winter.
In our bedroom, we have a Dyson electric heater for a little extra boost while reading in bed in the mornings and evenings. When we install the mini-split in our room this spring, we will see which one we end up using for heat. We also have a heated tile floor in the master bath which keeps our master bedroom warm (and our old cat). It also helps hold warmth in the bedroom when the Dyson isn’t on.
Between all these zone heaters, we are comfortable in the places where we spend time and our gas furnace gets a break. It usually only operates between 5-9 a.m. From 2019 to 2020, our gas use went down 22% just from adding electric zone heaters!
Our Bryant gas furnace starts to supplement the heat pump sometime in early November until late April. It works the hardest from late-November-February when it gets really cold. These are the months when we use the most natural gas to heat our home. At this point, its main function is to boost the temperature from 62-68 in the mornings. But it’s always available for backup to the heat pump and zone heaters if it gets really cold (near or below zero).
The Trane heat pump works well once the temp gets up to 40 degrees and above, which usually happens by afternoon in winter, except during the cold and stormy days. We’ve had a lot of those this winter, so it isn’t getting used much. During the shoulder seasons of spring and fall, the heat pump shines and is able to handle any heating or cooling needs we may have. Generally we don’t have to use much of anything from late April until about mid-June and then again from late September until about mid-October. In 2022, we used less electricity and gas from mid-September to mid-November using the heat pump, so it did it’s job. For example, in October we used 1/3 of the gas we used in 2021! (It was a very warm month, so that also contributed.) We are excited to see how the system performs this spring. Keep an eye out for a blog update this summer, after we’ve had the heat pump in place for a year.
To cool our home we use A/C from about mid-June-mid-September when temperatures are in the high 80’s to over 100 degrees F. We generally keep our thermostat at 77 degrees in the summer. We used to open our windows to enjoy the cool night air, but now the ring road close to our house has become a drag strip and we can’t sleep with the windows open anymore. Truly a bummer! This summer the new heat pump A/C kept us cool and was quieter than the old system. Comparing the electricity use this summer with last summer, the new sysem uses about the same amount, which is to be expected because it uses the same technology as the old A/C to cool. Scott has decided he would like our bedroom to be cooler in the hot summer nights, so this year we will add a mini-split heat pump to our bedroom, then we can keep the thermostat for the rest of the house set to 82 degrees during the night. This should save some electricity in the summer.
NOTE: We are lucky to have good insulation and efficient double-paned windows in our home, which helps us keep the heat and cool in. We also have an attic fan that helps to remove heat from our attic area and keep the house cooler in the summer.
Thinking About Your Own System?
If your old A/C condenser needs replacing, a heat pump is worth considering if you have solar panels to provide the electricity. It’s best to get the solar panels first, since electricity is more expensive than natural gas and most of our electrical grids are powered by fossil fuels anyhow. If you live in a moderate climate where temps rarely fall below 40 degrees, you may be able to use just the heat pump. If you live in a colder climate like we do, you will need either a hybrid system like ours or you can install a ground source heat pump. With this system the heat comes from the earth, so it is more consistent and really saves electricity. If you are building a home or have some acreage, this may be the system for you. If you have a smaller home with an open floor plan, a mini-split system may be the way to go. Mini-splits are more efficient at creating heat than our ducted system and some of them with a hyper mode can create heat at temperatures well below freezing. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes tax credits to help defray the costs of adding these systems (and solar panels) to your home. We hope to be able to save 30% on the purchase and installation of our mini-split thanks to this new legislation!