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Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin
So I have lived a bunch of different places, in a bunch of different climate, with various source of heat and cooling....... They all have pluses and minuses....
Heat pumps, and mini spits, are really the same thing at the root of how they work... If I was building a new home and wanted to go this root, I would just get a heat pump with duct work, and save money..... mini-spits are great for retro fitting, but cost more....
The down side to Heat pumps and mini-splits for heat is lower efficiency compared to other sources, once you get below freezing temperatures. You offset this by not trying to keep your house 70 degrees all winter long...
I have also used Gas and oil furnaces for force hot water heat... don't like this alternative, I don't think they work well at all....
I have had wall mounted propane heaters, and woodstoves for heat, they are nice, but not practical in larger homes / Areas....
For heat sources, I like Propane, or Natural gas, force hot air.... if your concerned about humidity, they all offer humidifier options... couple one of these with a AC unit, and you have everything you need... I don't think you save anything over a heat pump with this option... but I could be wrong.... but what you get is a good heat source and good AC source, that will last a long time... add the humidifier option even better.... with gas installed put a few gas fired fireplaces or wood stoves in the rooms you use the most, then you can keep the house temperature down around 65 dgreess and used the gas fired wood stoves or fire places to heat the rooms you use a bit more...
Anyways just my thoughts on the mater... everyone has an opinion.... none of them are wrong... you just have to gather as much data as you can and decided what seem right to you...
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Don’t lump all heat pumps into one pile.
Efficiency of air sourced heat pumps (mini splits) goes down as the air temp goes down.
Efficiency of ground sourced (geothermal) is constant because the ground temp does not vary.
My house is supposed to cost $500.00/yr to heat. That was before fuel / electric rates went up. And you can basically power it with Solar.
