Forgive my cold-weather ignorance. I live in Florida where my one story house has a heat pump for all seasons. I’m moving north, where I’m finding two level homes with gas furnaces and heat pumps. Sometimes, two heat pumps: one for each floor. I get that heat pumps don’t work great in really cold weather. So does some kind of switch over circuit activate the right system or is it a matter of manually choosing heat or cool?
Posted by porks2345
8 Comments
Most systems have automatic switchover based on outdoor temp – the heat pump handles mild weather and the gas furnace kicks in when it gets too cold (usually around 30-35°F). You just set your thermostat like normal and the system figures out which heating source to use
Hybrid system.
Instead of using “Strip Heat” for emergency or back up heat, a gas furnace provides the heat.
If the system has two speed fans, there was / may still be a tax credit for energy efficient heating. (Was in 2014, I’ve moved since then.)
We have completely different systems. The furnace for the really cold winter, and the heat pumps for the shoulder seasons. Once it gets below freezing, we just leave the HP off and use the radiators.
In my case I have a gas furnace for basement and first floor and heatpump for the top floor. That’s fairly common where I live outside of DC if the SQFT requires two systems.
Depending on how far north but heat pumps are installed all the way up in Canada. Sometimes the auxiliary heat is by electric strip heaters or even gas or oil heaters. Heat pump up north are much more efficient than the typical Florida heat pump.
Doesn’t switch. Heat pumps work fine in any weather but there’s a limit to how much they can heat above the ambient temperature. Somewhere around 30 degs F will get you about 70F in the house. Then it drops degree fr degree, so at 0 outside it’s 40 inside
You need a heating element inside the unit that assists the heat pump when it drops below 25 or so outside, it can be gas, propane, or electric. Usually it’s part of the inside air handler.
Depends on the house and what you mean by heat pump, as you can see from the replies.
If it’s a forced air system with ducts and the gas furnace AND the heat pump are hooked in to it, then the thermostat takes care of it at some temperature cutoff.
If the “heat pumps” are ductless minisplits not hooked in to gas furnace at all, they’re separate.
Not all heat pumps are bad in cold temps. But they are expensive. That’s why the gas furnace, for cold temps.