Information on electric heat pumps

When my husband, Dave, and I built our home, we relied heavily on the advice of the building contractor.  We should have either done a lot more research ourselves, or hired professionals in the various fields. Unfortunately the building contractor only had general knowledge of plumbing, wiring and heating/cooling.  We took his recommendation and invested in an electric heat pump to handle our year round temperature control. The general contractor assured us that the heat pump would effectively and efficiently combat local weather.  This is not the case. The heat pump is absolutely wonderful during the summer months. It operates very much like a central cooling system, extracting heat from the air and pumping it outside through the use of refrigerant.  The equipment is extremely quiet and energy efficient, and it successfully reduces humidity levels. During the cooler months of the fall, the heat pump is able to maintain comfort. The equipment actually reverses operation to find ambient heat in the outside air and transfer it into the house.  This process if exceptionally energy efficient, and keeps our heating costs quite low. We get into trouble when the outside temperature drops below freezing. At that point, there is not sufficient ambient heat available and the heat pump can’t keep up. It doesn’t matter how high we set the thermostat or how hard the heat pump struggles, our house is downright chilly.  Since the heat pump is running non stop, it costs us a lot in monthly heating bills. We’re not happy spending a fortune for heat and then bundling up in layers of sweaters to keep warm.  

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