Well, we have been living without a furnace for over 2 weeks because we haven't made a decision on 'system type' nor 'brand' yet. We have at least 5 neighbours & friends that have gone the 'heat pump/electric heat in the air handler' only route. All are very pleased, although with the predicted hydro rate increases, they may not be in the future.
Considering our benign climate here, with all auxiliary heat sources off overnight, the coldest the house gets is 17C overnight even though the OAT always gets down to close to freezing. We have had only 2 days of sunshine during that period for 'solar heating' through the large expanse of windows. I would surmise that the past 2 weeks have been very typical of the climate here in January, although we haven't had any blasts of really cold Arctic air that typically might total a week every year.
We are really quite comfortable - 20/21C in the day & 17C at night - without a central heating system. That really surprises us & we are kinda wondering why we need to spend 10 - 15000 dollars on an all singing all dancing system.
We have a couple of quotes - all from longtime, reputable installers here on high efficiency higher end gear:
Trane:
* Gas Furnace (80K BTU, 95%) + Heat Pump (SEER 16) - $10,400
* Gas Furnace + 2.5T Air Conditioner (SEER 16) - $9600
Lennox through CostCo - Cash Cards of $100 per $1000 spent (up to $1500) not included in the quotes below:
* Gas Furnace (90K BTU, 96%) + Heat Pump (SEER 18) - $12,400
* Gas Furnace + 3.5T Air Conditioner (SEER 18) - $11,800
* 3.5T Heat Pump (SEER 18) + 20 kWh Electric Aux Heat - $11,600
* Highest end Lennox System Furnace - $14,670(AC) to $15,600(HP)
All + GST of course.
We'll get a Carrier quote tomorrow, because since we aren't freezing to death, we have some time.
Any comments?
TAM
Last edited by exlabdriver; 01/18/15 07:58 PM.
