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Would a new home heat pump / AC unit be more efficient?

Discussion in 'Home Improvement' started by IowaGuy, Jul 9, 2022.

  1. Jul 9, 2022 at 1:16 PM
    #1
    IowaGuy

    IowaGuy [OP] New Member

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    My current home has a heat pump / AC system that was installed @ 2007. Would an all new system be significant more efficient not changing anything else? I am curious how much the efficiency has improved on these things in the last decade.

    I am putting a little money into a saving account for a new system and I am not planning on replacing it until I have enough saved or the current one craps out.
     
  2. Jul 9, 2022 at 1:32 PM
    #2
    mverkaik

    mverkaik New Member

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    Wait till yours craps out. It will take a long time to pay for a new one on savings alone. That assumes a new one would even be better.
     
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  3. Jul 9, 2022 at 1:36 PM
    #3
    FrenchToasty

    FrenchToasty The Desert rat, 6 lug enthusiast

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    Heat pumps aren’t efficient, end of story.
    Seer rating minimums have changed since then, so yes you should get “more” efficiency than your current unit.
     
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  4. Jul 9, 2022 at 1:41 PM
    #4
    Black@Blue19

    Black@Blue19 Old Salt

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    New AC system
     
  5. Jul 11, 2022 at 4:59 AM
    #5
    mverkaik

    mverkaik New Member

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    Heat pumps are actually very efficient at moving heat. In fact they are the least expensive way to heat your house or water if you need to do it with electricity.
    However, electricity is not so cheap compared with natural gas so they get a bad wrap. Operating costs are not as cheap as gas for heating.
    Electric generation is not all that efficient either so the green answer is still natural gas.
     
    FrenchToasty[QUOTED] likes this.
  6. Jul 11, 2022 at 5:15 AM
    #6
    FrenchToasty

    FrenchToasty The Desert rat, 6 lug enthusiast

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    They’re not super common here, but if your replacing, might as well get a 90%+ efficient furnace. I replaced mine with a 80% because we don’t need to use it a bunch, but our winter gas bill definitely went down after the dinosaur was ripped out
     
  7. Jul 11, 2022 at 6:01 AM
    #7
    IowaGuy

    IowaGuy [OP] New Member

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    I live in the high AZ desert where the lowest if gets is usually around 25 in January. so we dont need a lot of heat. AC is the big one as it was 113 here the other day.
     
  8. Jul 11, 2022 at 8:29 AM
    #8
    Trogdog

    Trogdog New Member

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    You're not going to save money be replacing your system early (before it fails). However, if you're current system is on it's last legs you don't want it to fail in the middle of summer. I would wait until all the money was saved up for a new system and wait until the fall/spring when hvac companies are less busy.
    If you want to save even more money on a new ac and you have a pool or a pond you can get a "pool heater" kit for your ac, it's a coil that exchanges heat to the pool water before it goes to the fan/coils. This can reduce how much the exterior fan needs to run.
     
  9. Jul 11, 2022 at 8:44 AM
    #9
    FrenchToasty

    FrenchToasty The Desert rat, 6 lug enthusiast

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    Outdoor fan will be on anytime the compressor is on. Also those pool heaters seem cool, but I’m guessing it cuts down on the system capacity by adding extra length of pipe, and you’d have to add more gas to make up for that as well.
     
  10. Jul 11, 2022 at 9:16 AM
    #10
    Stumpjumper

    Stumpjumper New Member

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    Your system is only 5 years old. You should expect at least 10 or 12 years. My neighbor has 23 on his heat pump system. Last builder system in our neighborhood. He was an HVAC tech at one time and has done some minor repairs. The guy that replaced my unit is not a fan of heat pumps in the DFW area. When temps go below 38 the heat strips come on and you lose the efficiency. The other problem with heat pumps is the outside unit is running to heat the house. I would think a heat pump would be OK in most parts of AZ that don't get real cold.
     

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