Yes, I’m the same one who just had their Dishwasher fail. When it rains it pours! The heat pump was a good ol 1987 Trane, finally shorted out the motor and cannot be replaced. It used R12 anyway so it would have eventually been kaput. The furnace is a 1990 so we are just replacing it all at once.
I am wondering for those of you in cold northern climates what you recommend for full furnace and heat pump replacement brands. Some of the ones around here are:
Lennox
Carrier
Bosch
Amana
Now I’ve heard real bad things about Lennox, so I think I’ll avoid that. I think Bosch is generally really good, and Carrier is decent. This is all just hearsay.
I appreciate your guys’ help so much!!
You want a cold climate heat pump. They’re mostly all rebranded from Midea or Gree. If you’ve got money to spend, Mitsubishi is the top of the line. You can absolutely do heat pump combined with gas; there’s no need to get heat strips unless you’re looking to eliminate fossil fuels. If you want to get nerdy, figure out if there’s a cost break even between the two fuels and set your thermostat accordingly.
There’s a lot of consolidation in the industry; Carrier owns Heil and KeepRite for example, and they in turn white-label. The “integrated” systems (like Infinity by Carrier) may not integrate a cold climate heat pump; if you’re in a cold climate, stick to the cold climate options! Those high end systems also often have reliance on proprietary thermostats.
There’s a tendency to oversize heating equipment. Yes, when it is very cold, it is normal for the furnace to run a lot. Knowing that may save you a bundle of money. Alex has a good video about this. https://youtu.be/DTsQjiPlksA
In general, my recommendation is to find a person/company you are happy working with, and the manufacturer is somewhat secondary. Any repairs will need to be supported by this person. The second consideration is having a backup to that person; if they’re the only people in 200km that support your equipment, it could be a problem.
Also, be prepared that the heat pump output probably won’t feel “hot” like gas does. Some people hate that.
I appreciate it!
Yes, there are a Good number of reputable folks around so I have options.
Yeah, im used to the heat pumps not blowing “hot”, i read its normal.
Right now we are looking at these models, for about 17k:
Multi 37MUHA Heat Pump 3 Ton + Carrier Performance 59TP7A Furnace 80,000 BTU
It seems like a good price and they have a 10 year warranty on the heat pump, 20 year on the furnace heat exchanger. They do sell a full Bosch setup too but the guy said while their heat pump is fantastic the furnaces have had a couple of issues.
About a year and a half ago now I went with the most feature rich (expensive) Carrier heat pump and air handler to replace my contractor grade gas furnace. The cooling performance is really impressive for the low energy consumption. I specifically wanted a Cold Climate heat pump and this is listed as one. The tax credit helped a bit too. For heating performance, down to about 30 degrees its almost entirely heat pump (electric strips just for defrost cycle). However, its currently down to -4 degrees F outside right now, and while the heat pump is still used a bit, its relying much more on electric strips for heat which is expensive.
For our previous year’s run the total amount spent on energy with heat pump was less than total energy with gas. This year isn’t over yet so I don’t have full data.
I’ve heard the same bad things about Lennox.
Any info you’re looking for specifically I could provide from my recent experience?
I appreciate your info! Good to know. It regularly gets to -20 F Here in winter and a lot of wind. Good to know carrier stuff is decent. We have propane for the furnace.
Ill have to see what this hvac company offers. The first one only installs lennox so im not going with them. This one is a Carrier dealer that can also get Bosch. I was maybe thinking a carrier furnace and bosch heat pump. I want this system to last as long as it can again!
So you are getting a heat pump and a furnace, i.e., furnace supplements the heat pump when it gets cold enough?
The main pitfalls I’ve seen with heat pumps is that people want to go with the cheapest option that “works”, so they get a base model, and they often get talked into sizing up a size. Even if they dont size up, if all you have is a heat pump, it needs to provide enough heat in winter, which can make it oversized for summer. The downside there is that it doesnt run long enough to reduce humidity. I’ve lived in multiple places with that problem.
If you have supplemental heat (furnace or even heat strips that only become necessary a few days a year), sizing can be dependent on cooling needs only, which means humidity shouldn’t be a problem. Also, if you shell out the extra money for an inverter heat pump, that ceases to be a problem.
Another consideration is potential rebates. Energy efficiency rebates often require you to buy a more efficient model.
In terms of what brand, I have no clue, I’m not someone who actually works on these systems.