Heat transfer kit?

[CHOPPA]

Tell me the total size of your home or floor, tell me the size of your living area and ill give you a price for a suitable heatpump. KB Special! Then i can tell my accountant that racing sells heatpumps hahaha

[YellowDog]

I did the rounds on this a year or so ago.

They are all good for condensation but crap at heating your house, unless you have a strong heat source to feed the system.

The only advice I would give on the HRV thingy is to get one that takes fresh air from outside and not the dirty stale stuff from your roof cavity.

[325rocket]

Heatpumps are the most effecient way to heat and dry your home fact! You also get cooling in the summer....

good point ... ours goes in tomorrow. not a mitsubishi but a heat pump all the same.

[Swoop]

Must have been typing too fast again...

Speed kills. The gubbinment told me, and they wouldn't lie to us, right?

[CHOPPA]

good point ... ours goes in tomorrow. not a mitsubishi but a heat pump all the same.

I shoulda been quicker on that one! Got boys installing in welly on friday...

[slofox]

The only thing that worries me about heat pumps is that they rely on electrumicktrickery to work. If the power goes off in a blizzard you're fucked...remember how long the power was off to some of those places affected by outages last year? I wanna be able to light a fire regardless of reticulated services. Same goes for gas really...

[dino3310]

The only thing that worries me about heat pumps is that they rely on electrumicktrickery to work. If the power goes off in a blizzard you're fucked...remember how long the power was off to some of those places affected by outages last year? I wanna be able to light a fire regardless of reticulated services. Same goes for gas really...

true good points, my problem is my fire needs replaceing so i would need to buy a new heat source as well as a vent system, so i'm swaying towards a heat pump that can do both at a cheaper price.
Had a young gentleman around yesterday to asses and give the pro's and cons of said products, veeeery helpful indeed. still debateing with the wife as to which system to go with.

[vifferman]

my problem is my fire needs replaceing so i would need to buy a new heat source as well as a vent system, so i'm swaying towards a heat pump that can do both at a cheaper price.

We were in the same boat (?) a couple of years back. We had a pretty good fire, but it was a bit messy with ash and smoke, and I was the only one cutting wood and kindling, cleaning it, etc. We decided to replace it with a gas heater (gas runs past our mailbox) then realised for about the same price, we could get a heatpump, which we could use all year round!
I contacted a few places, but only two replied reasonably quickly. One was brilliant, the other guy didn't really listen to me, and his quote wasn't for what I asked for. Another company replied a few weeks after the system was installed!
In the end, we went for two units, both Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one in the lounge, one in the basement. They've been excellent, and the only problem was the one in the basement is bigger capacity than the one in the lounge, but only $150 dearer. We should've bought two of those, as that model is more efficient and doesn't have to work as hard for the same heating/cooling output.
We may still get one more unit for the middle level of the house (it's 3 stories), or for the other end of the upstairs. Presently, we're having to use a panel heater (and sometimes fan heater) in the middle of the house, or in the dining room. It doesn't help that the useless pricks who first owned our house didn't properly insulate it, so it's not a very warm house.

[dino3310]

We were in the same boat (?) a couple of years back. We had a pretty good fire, but it was a bit messy with ash and smoke, and I was the only one cutting wood and kindling, cleaning it, etc. We decided to replace it with a gas heater (gas runs past our mailbox) then realised for about the same price, we could get a heatpump, which we could use all year round!
I contacted a few places, but only two replied reasonably quickly. One was brilliant, the other guy didn't really listen to me, and his quote wasn't for what I asked for. Another company replied a few weeks after the system was installed!
In the end, we went for two units, both Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one in the lounge, one in the basement. They've been excellent, and the only problem was the one in the basement is bigger capacity than the one in the lounge, but only $150 dearer. We should've bought two of those, as that model is more efficient and doesn't have to work as hard for the same heating/cooling output.
We may still get one more unit for the middle level of the house (it's 3 stories), or for the other end of the upstairs. Presently, we're having to use a panel heater (and sometimes fan heater) in the middle of the house, or in the dining room. It doesn't help that the useless pricks who first owned our house didn't properly insulate it, so it's not a very warm house.

after they were installed was there a sharpe increase in your power bill, i'm keen to get one but the missus is worried about high power bills.

[Winston001]

HRV systems and the like are a waste of money! Half the time you cant use them as they take hot or cold air from your ceiling space. To get a good idea pop your head into your roof space in the morning when you want some heating, its just as cold as your house so you cant turn it on and if you do whatever heat source you have will be basically heating your roof space!!

Heatpumps are the most efficient way to heat and dry your home fact! You also get cooling in the summer....

I can install a heatpump system cheaper then an HRV, Mitsubishi even have a new system that is sorta like HRV but far superior!

http://www.bdt.co.nz/lossnay/home.aspx

Interesting thread. Choppa has it in a nutshell.

The principle of HRV (and DVS?) is your home needs a complete airchange every hour - or something like that. The reason is to get rid of odours and moist air - showers, cooking, etc. Moist air is cold and keeps your home cold.

Heat rises. In theory your ceiling air is dryer and warmer than inside your home. By pumping into the house you recapture the heat.

In theory. In a modern house in a dry climate, with a partly airtight roofspace, it might work. But then again a modern house shouldn't lose much heat into the ceiling anyway.

Heat transfer is another animal entirely. Very simply a fan sucks hot air from your living room and pushes it down a duct into the bedrooms. Air circulates throughout the house and you get a nice even temperature.

I have experience of all four heating systems (including logburner). I'd go for a heatpump every time. Not only is it efficent but it also dehumidifies. Secondly a large diameter (200mm at least) fan heat transfer to the far end of the house.

Thirdly, the idea of being 100% reliant on electricity makes me nervous so I'd still have a logburner. You can cook on them as well.

[vifferman]

after they were installed was there a sharpe increase in your power bill, i'm keen to get one but the missus is worried about high power bills.

Sharp increase? No.
But our power bills are definitely higher than they have been. However, they are high ALL year round, not just in summer/winter. I'd have to compare using non-heatpump heating or cooling with our current situation, which I can't do.
The fact is that next to some sort of solar heating, a heat pump is still the most efficient form of heating. Wood fires are cheaper to run, but they don't cool the house when it's hot, and you can't use them to dehumidify the house the rest of the time. Plus (also) there' s a lot less cleaning and maintenance required.

[dino3310]

cool thanks mate it certainally seems the way to go

[Crisis management]

I haven't read all the thread Dean so if I'm miles out, join us on sunday and we can beat each other up then.....
We installed both a moisture control system and heat pumps in our house, it's 30 years old, has little insulation, leaks heat like Triumph sheds oil, is multi leveled and set in the bloody bush so moisture loves the inside of the house.

The moisture control system (Moisture Master) draws heat from the roof space (has a heating unit 2kw, that switches on when needed) and is dispersed through 3 levels. This unit went in october and in 2 days there was no condensation in the house, we went from dripping windows to dry windows.
All this does is force dry, warm air into the house and flushes out the damp air, it works and works well, I didn't find any other system that did this as well...hint, hint.
It is not a heating system and shouldn't attempt to be one but by removing the damp air the living conditions improve dramatically.

Heat pumps; cheap and economical heat as long as you get a good unit, sized correctly for your application and sited correctly to maximise the outdoor conditions. I was appalled at the lack of technical skill shown by some of these installers that quoted...contact a heating and ventilating company that only does air con work and work with them only..."Heat pump installers" can be absolutely crap.

If you try and use your heat pump to dehumidify your house you need to run it for most of the day...expensive to do compared to the running cost of a ventilation system, however, if you can have one or the other at this stage, get the heat pump then consider the ventilation system later.

Talk to a HVAC engineer / HVAC company and no one else.

[dino3310]

Interesting thread. Choppa has it in a nutshell.

Thirdly, the idea of being 100% reliant on electricity makes me nervous so I'd still have a logburner. You can cook on them as well.

choppers bang on the money alrite, he knows his stuff.

im a bit nervous about being reliant on the spark to , but we gona keep our old coal burner as a winter back up plus the ornaments will look good on it

[slofox]

...the idea of being 100% reliant on electricity makes me nervous so I'd still have a logburner. You can cook on them as well.

Me too. Which is why I chose as I did - logburner plus HTS. Oh and the fact that I really like a fire helps too. I don't mind the work that goes into it.
But, on the downside, living in the city, firewood supplies usually have to be purchased and they aren't always cheap...
Having said that, my average daily power usage over a whole year is 6 units per day. (I keep a log of power usage). About 5 per day in summer and 7 per day in winter. I have gas water heating and a gas hob to cook on. The oven is 'lectric but I almost never use it (too much trouble to clean...). Winter power usage is higher through 'lectric blankets, towel rails and HTS. Still, it feels good to know a loss of power wouldn't be the end of my world and I could still stay warm - and cook.