Community Chat

[hckynut]

@2Kittys 

During the day this time of the year, no higher than 65° in our patio room, where we spend most of our at home time. At night, when the patio room is my bedroom, 55°.

In the hot weather the patio room is kept at 80° when my wife is present. When it's just me and our furry ones? The patio room AC is not turned on, and 90°-100° is fine with me. 

hckynut 

[SeaMaiden]

We have all electric

fall and winter... at 4 am the heat  goes to  68 degrees   stays  all  day..

after 9PM ,65 degrees

 In the summer we keep the house a constant 72 degrees with our heat pump. 

[RedTop]

I'm in WV, and our thermostat sits on 72 year round.  When it's bitter cold and we need more heat, I switch the heat pump to the emergency heat cycle and/or we build a fire in the wood stove downstairs.   

[SeaMaiden]

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@software wrote:

A heat pump is not recommended for cold climates, only for those in a moderate climate.

A heat pump is what I have here in the South, it's perfect for us.   For some reason, the HVAC folks have been pushing heat pumps for cold climates.    I don't understand enough to know why, I've just always heard heat pumps in the south, electric furnace in the north.

My house is not large & all on one floor, most of the time, I use my natural gas infrared heater.   It works without electricity.    It's much better than forced air on my sinuses.  Some people think they are ugly but the heat is so wonderful & cheap.

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@Nonametoday wrote:

Well, if you live in the north you probably don't know what a heat pump is.  I wish someone had told me about 6 years ago about them before that forked-tongue salesman got to my husband.

Very expensive.  Worst thing I ever owned.  I keep the thermostat (nowadays) on 75.  It is hot all over two sides of my house and the other sides are cold as ice. 

My bedroom faces northwest and of course, there is not much sun on that side of the house during the winter days (and none at night) but there is a lot of heat there in the afternoon in summer. 

I have to have my heat on 75 or I would freeze to death at night.  I can turn it to 68-70 during the day when I am busy and I am on the east or southeast side of the house.  The guest bedrooms are on the northwest side as well.

My bedroom is equally hot in the summer and I have to keep the A/C on 68 in order not to sweat all night while the rest of the house is cold.  

MORAL OF THE STORY:  Never buy a heat pump.

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@Nonametoday    we live in the PNW and just purchased a heat pump about two years ago... BEST THING WE EVER DID!  It keeps us cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Saves us so much money.  We may get a cold stretch for a week or two in the winter and the furnace just kicks in during those times... but the heat pump is powerful and works so well. You may not have had the right size heat pump installed.  You must have the right one for your size home. No more expensive than a furnace and airconditioer... we paid about $15,000 for a new furnace and heat pump combined. 

[I am still oxox]

We live on the second floor of a two story building. We can turn the heat off and on but nothing more. We never turn the heat on in the bed room and turn it off and on in the livingroom. We can not control it in the bathroom or kitchen, there are steam pipes there

[depglass]

62 daytime, 55 night.  We obviously dress very warm and have air capturing blankets on the bed.  Got in this habit when fuel (propane) was high.  Actually I hate being hot so wearing a couple layers of clothing is much preferred. 

[qualitygal]

73 and the heat kicks on.  

[RedTop]

@Nonametoday,

I've enjoyed a heat pump for 39 years; in WV where winter can be brutal, and NEVER had temperature variance as you describe.  

My thoughts are that your heat pump is either not large enough, and/or you need two heat pumps to meet the needs of your home, as something isn't right.   As long as each room has a vent and duct work running to it, the air temperature should be the same in each room.   

[KaySD]

Where we live it gets into the 30s but never freezes and usually warms up during the day. We don't use a furnace or air conditioner, so the house tends to be the same inside as outside +/- 10 degrees. In the summer, we use a whole house fan and portable fans, and in the winter, we use an electric space heater to warm up right where we are sitting. Other than that, we add and subtract clothes and blankets. I do love pulling out the thick socks and comforters every year! 

We do get quite hot or cold at times, but if it's not life-threatening, we just adjust to it. Mostly we adjust our expectations! I think that because we don't expect to be within a narrow temperature range (like 60-80), we have learned to feel okay within a much wider range (50-95).

I'm definitely not saying this would work for everyone, certainly not in freezing climates, but there are some compensations. A big one is that we can mostly keep the doors and windows open--which we love. I also seldom need a coat or anything, and can move freely between inside and outside most of the time. And we are more in tune with the seasonal changes, which seems like a plus to me. 

[Nonametoday]

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@RedTop wrote:

@Nonametoday,

I've enjoyed a heat pump for 39 years; in WV where winter can be brutal, and NEVER had temperature variance as you describe.  

My thoughts are that your heat pump is either not large enough, and/or you need two heat pumps to meet the needs of your home, as something isn't right.   As long as each room has a vent and duct work running to it, the air temperature should be the same in each room.   

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@RedTop   We had that man out here (and it is big enough, in fact overly big for our house by a couple hundred square feet) nearly every month for years and then our warranty ran out.  So, we are stuck with it.  My neighbor had one before us but we did not know and she said "Oh, I wish you had asked me before you bought it....we nearly froze to death for 10 years..."