Well yes; at least where I’m from (the American southeast) an “air conditioner” will run only in one direction for cooling a space, a “heat pump” is the same technology with the addition of a reversing valve that can heat or cool the space. The HVAC technician I have on contract will understand exactly what I mean by “I want to replace my air conditioner with a heat pump.” with no further elaboration.
It is relatively new, installed in 2006 or so, alongside a condensing natural gas furnace. The furnace provides heat, the AC provides cool. It’s working okay for now, when it’s time to replace it I’ll replace it with a heat pump system and retain the furnace for emergency and defrost.
Unless it gets very cold, probably no need to keep it. Had mine removed and I live in the UK. Not sure if there is anywhere that needs AC in summer and gets too cold for a heat pump in winter.
Emergency heat is a legal requirement. A heat pump system without a source of emergency heat does not meet the North Carolina residential building code. That law was written back when AC was newfangled and untrusted, and Raleigh (and many other state capitols) didn’t want families freezing to death because a compressor motor failed.
American central HVAC systems are modular by nature, a heat pump system is designed to rely on the emergency heat system for defrost heat. Auto-defrost is accomplished by overriding the thermostat and commanding Emergency Heat ON, reversing valve to AC, compressor ON, fan ON. The ensuing sparring match between the heater and air conditioner pretty effectively defrosts the outdoor unit. And in the United States at least, by far the world’s largest producer of natural gas, it’s considerably less expensive to do that under methane power than electricity.
Defrost is a critical feature in my climate; winter hovers around freezing, often climbing to 1 or 2C during the day and dipping to -3 or -4C at night, and the relative humidity is ALWAYS high. Perfect icing conditions for a heat pump.
Surely a heat pump can fail just as easily as a boiler? Log burner or even a biofuel fire kinda thing would be far more suitable as an actual emergency backup.
So in my part of the country, boilers are oldfangled and fairly rare. I’ve never seen a new one installed during my lifetime. You will find them in the Northeast I gather. Recall that the United States is a huge territory with a dramatic range of climates; the several states vary their HVAC standards and practices to meet their conditions. I live in central North Carolina, these are the standards I know and shall speak on.
In my locale, forced air HVAC is typical. No boiler, no hot water pipes, save for those run from a water heater to sinks, bathtubs, washers etc. The AC system necessary down here in sweet tea Cackalacky requires large air ducts from the evaporator to the living spaces, so if you’re going to install those, you might as well also use them for winter heat rather than plumb the house for an entirely separate boiler and radiators.
The law I mentioned was written with all-electric systems in mind. The “emergency” heater is basically a big resistor; a coil of wire commonly called a “heat strip” and a contactor that connects it to 220v mains power. It’s like a toaster big enough for a man to crawl through. Mechanically simpler than a heat pump though less energy efficient, they’re intended to provide heat 1. in case the heat pump fails somehow, 2. on those “but sometimes” occasions where the temperatures dip below that which the heat pump is designed for (this used to be a bigger problem than it is now; 1960s era heat pumps were less effective in cold temperatures than modern ones), and 3. defrosting.
My home has a furnace plus air conditioner system, I don’t currently have a heat pump. I have a forced air condensing furnace, I’ll let my main man Alec explain in detail how those work, and an air conditioner. The air conditioner is almost exactly like a heat pump except no reversing valve. The furnace serves as the air conditioner’s air handler, when the thermostat is set to air conditioning it sends a compressor ON signal to the air conditioner and a fan ON signal to the furnace. Switching to a heat pump system would mean wiring up the furnace as the “emergency heat” system.
I live in a climate where a heat pump can almost provide for all heating needs, my father has a heat pump and furnace system, and in the deepest depths of winter the furnace runs about an hour a week, and a little more during those “but sometimes” cold snaps. We’re the United States, natural gas is abundant and cheap here, so it’s actually cheaper to use gas for backup heat than resistive electric.
This all does assume that mains power is up and running. The true emergency backup, for when the power grid is down, is typically an entirely separate system chosen by the whims of the homeowner. I have a natural gas fired Glo-Warm, a mechanically operated radiant heater that requires no electricity. My father has a kerosene heater and keeps 10 gallons of kerosene in his tool shed. My uncle has a wood burning stove. My neighbor has a natural gas burning whole house generator. A couple work colleagues have rooftop solar and various degrees of battery backup. We’re in “what works for you personally” territory. Most of the Texans I know have no plan whatsoever and during that blizzard that hit them a few years ago they huddled around scented candles for warmth and shat in buckets. It’s a free country, do whatever you want.
Air conditioner is a heat pump.
Well yes; at least where I’m from (the American southeast) an “air conditioner” will run only in one direction for cooling a space, a “heat pump” is the same technology with the addition of a reversing valve that can heat or cool the space. The HVAC technician I have on contract will understand exactly what I mean by “I want to replace my air conditioner with a heat pump.” with no further elaboration.
Not all are reversible, and given they said when it goes I would assume it is an older one that can’t do heating.
It is relatively new, installed in 2006 or so, alongside a condensing natural gas furnace. The furnace provides heat, the AC provides cool. It’s working okay for now, when it’s time to replace it I’ll replace it with a heat pump system and retain the furnace for emergency and defrost.
Unless it gets very cold, probably no need to keep it. Had mine removed and I live in the UK. Not sure if there is anywhere that needs AC in summer and gets too cold for a heat pump in winter.
Not an option. Two reasons:
Emergency heat is a legal requirement. A heat pump system without a source of emergency heat does not meet the North Carolina residential building code. That law was written back when AC was newfangled and untrusted, and Raleigh (and many other state capitols) didn’t want families freezing to death because a compressor motor failed.
American central HVAC systems are modular by nature, a heat pump system is designed to rely on the emergency heat system for defrost heat. Auto-defrost is accomplished by overriding the thermostat and commanding Emergency Heat ON, reversing valve to AC, compressor ON, fan ON. The ensuing sparring match between the heater and air conditioner pretty effectively defrosts the outdoor unit. And in the United States at least, by far the world’s largest producer of natural gas, it’s considerably less expensive to do that under methane power than electricity.
Defrost is a critical feature in my climate; winter hovers around freezing, often climbing to 1 or 2C during the day and dipping to -3 or -4C at night, and the relative humidity is ALWAYS high. Perfect icing conditions for a heat pump.
Isn’t that a requirement only applicable to health facilities, and one that you can also skip if you have two separate energy sources?
Surely a heat pump can fail just as easily as a boiler? Log burner or even a biofuel fire kinda thing would be far more suitable as an actual emergency backup.
So in my part of the country, boilers are oldfangled and fairly rare. I’ve never seen a new one installed during my lifetime. You will find them in the Northeast I gather. Recall that the United States is a huge territory with a dramatic range of climates; the several states vary their HVAC standards and practices to meet their conditions. I live in central North Carolina, these are the standards I know and shall speak on.
In my locale, forced air HVAC is typical. No boiler, no hot water pipes, save for those run from a water heater to sinks, bathtubs, washers etc. The AC system necessary down here in sweet tea Cackalacky requires large air ducts from the evaporator to the living spaces, so if you’re going to install those, you might as well also use them for winter heat rather than plumb the house for an entirely separate boiler and radiators.
The law I mentioned was written with all-electric systems in mind. The “emergency” heater is basically a big resistor; a coil of wire commonly called a “heat strip” and a contactor that connects it to 220v mains power. It’s like a toaster big enough for a man to crawl through. Mechanically simpler than a heat pump though less energy efficient, they’re intended to provide heat 1. in case the heat pump fails somehow, 2. on those “but sometimes” occasions where the temperatures dip below that which the heat pump is designed for (this used to be a bigger problem than it is now; 1960s era heat pumps were less effective in cold temperatures than modern ones), and 3. defrosting.
My home has a furnace plus air conditioner system, I don’t currently have a heat pump. I have a forced air condensing furnace, I’ll let my main man Alec explain in detail how those work, and an air conditioner. The air conditioner is almost exactly like a heat pump except no reversing valve. The furnace serves as the air conditioner’s air handler, when the thermostat is set to air conditioning it sends a compressor ON signal to the air conditioner and a fan ON signal to the furnace. Switching to a heat pump system would mean wiring up the furnace as the “emergency heat” system.
I live in a climate where a heat pump can almost provide for all heating needs, my father has a heat pump and furnace system, and in the deepest depths of winter the furnace runs about an hour a week, and a little more during those “but sometimes” cold snaps. We’re the United States, natural gas is abundant and cheap here, so it’s actually cheaper to use gas for backup heat than resistive electric.
This all does assume that mains power is up and running. The true emergency backup, for when the power grid is down, is typically an entirely separate system chosen by the whims of the homeowner. I have a natural gas fired Glo-Warm, a mechanically operated radiant heater that requires no electricity. My father has a kerosene heater and keeps 10 gallons of kerosene in his tool shed. My uncle has a wood burning stove. My neighbor has a natural gas burning whole house generator. A couple work colleagues have rooftop solar and various degrees of battery backup. We’re in “what works for you personally” territory. Most of the Texans I know have no plan whatsoever and during that blizzard that hit them a few years ago they huddled around scented candles for warmth and shat in buckets. It’s a free country, do whatever you want.
I lived in an NC apartment complex. When the power went out, we froze. There was no emergency heat.