Heat pumps are shit!

**JimO** · 25th July 2009, 09:04

Originally Posted by doc

Are these heat pumps very expensive to run, and what sort of servicing costs are there ? Cost of woodburner in Waikato at daughters house ended up costing nearly 5k

and now there is the cost of wood. She reckons if she did it over again she would go heatpump.

that woodburner will still burn wood in a power cut, long term heatpumps cost a fortune to run were as wood is cheap

**Genestho** · 25th July 2009, 09:08

Agreed, my bill has dropped significantly too! And yet I turn it on for as long and as frequent as required!

**Kiwi Graham:Me** · 25th July 2009, 09:24

I have three! cant say I have noticed much difference in the power bill, certainly alot cheaper than buying 5-6mtrs of wood each winter.
However they are shit in a power cut........got a gas fire for those times

**Blackbird** · 25th July 2009, 10:22

Originally Posted by doc

Are these heat pumps very expensive to run, and what sort of servicing costs are there ? Cost of woodburner in Waikato at daughters house ended up costing nearly 5k

and now there is the cost of wood. She reckons if she did it over again she would go heatpump.

I think it cost us about $3000 all up to buy and have our Fujitsu 6.5 kw pump installed about 2 years ago. Would have been a tad cheaper but we had a wiring upgrade done at the same time. As others have said, they're relatively cheap to run. Saved about $80/month compared with when we used a fan heater and oil radiator in the winter. Really nice on really humid summer evenings too, turned down to 18-20 degrees!

We had a woodburner for 20 years in Tokoroa and were tempted to do the same in Coromandel but we just couldn't be bothered to stack wood and do all the flue cleaning as we got older. Haven't regretted it either.

**p.dath** · 25th July 2009, 10:33

Originally Posted by jimjim

that woodburner will still burn wood in a power cut, long term heatpumps cost a fortune to run were as wood is cheap

Hydro generated power is generally much cheaper than wood.

Domestic heat pumps tend to need very little maintenance. Fire places usually need annual flue cleans and inspections, regular cleaning, and then there is the effort to actually get the fuel.

And the last clincher, there are very few heat pump related fires (never heard of any in fact), as compared to units that rely on burning wood (which is my many councils will no longer allow fireplaces to be installed).

**Jantar** · 25th July 2009, 11:06

We have both a heat pump and a wood burner. We find that using the wood burner through winter and the heat pump in spring and autumn (or air conditioning in summer) works out the best.

The wood burner is a metro that is 14 kW equivilent, and we burn a bout $500 worth of wood per year.

The heat pump is a 6.3 kW Mitsibushi that only takes 2.5 kW to run, so that is around $0.60 per hour. Quite cheap when its only for a few hours per day, but much dearer than wood when its required for more than 8 hours per day.

**scumdog** · 25th July 2009, 11:11

Heat pump and wood-burner here.

Use about $100 worth of bought wood plus what we get ourselves each year.

Heat pump goes 24/7 when we're home or off during the day while we're at work.

Affordable and the air-con in summer is a blessing.

**Blackbird** · 25th July 2009, 11:22

Originally Posted by scumdog

Affordable and the air-con in summer is a blessing.

You mean when Balclutha reaches 10 degrees C, Tom?

**peasea** · 25th July 2009, 13:18

Originally Posted by Molly

We've got an old Daiken (sp?) that works quite well but this new Fujitsu.... It's newly fitted by the way, though the outside unit has already had to be replaced under warranty (that one would defrost every 20 mins). There's been an army of engineers through here and it hasn't made a lot of difference.

I look after about two dozen Fujitsu's, I'd never buy one. We also have two that do just what you described in your first post, just lemons. We also experienced compressor failure (under warranty) in one and a few fans vibrate through the roof. Bloody annoying. While I have fixed some of this by remounting some units there are a couple that just won't shut up.

I much prefer a box fire, free-standing preferably. They work in a power cut too.

**Molly** · 25th July 2009, 20:55

Originally Posted by peasea

I look after about two dozen Fujitsu's, I'd never buy one. We also have two that do just what you described in your first post, just lemons. We also experienced compressor failure (under warranty) in one and a few fans vibrate through the roof. Bloody annoying. While I have fixed some of this by remounting some units there are a couple that just won't shut up.

I much prefer a box fire, free-standing preferably. They work in a power cut too.

Peasea. Can I ask if it matters how exposed the external unit is? My Daiken one is in a sheltered area whilst the Fujitsu is more exposed. Will it defrost less if it's protected more?

**laRIKin** · 25th July 2009, 21:03

Originally Posted by Molly

Will it defrost less if it's protected more?

It has more to do with how hard the pump is working.
If the unit is working hard it will frost up more.
There for has to de-frost to clear, to work again.
It sounds like you have a unit that is to small for your needs.

PM me more info and I will check at work for you.
I will needed to know exactly what it is doing and what model it is and what size area you are trying to heat.

I work for a Heat Pump firm, but are new to heat pumps and will ask one of the Tech's

**peasea** · 25th July 2009, 21:10

Originally Posted by Molly

Peasea. Can I ask if it matters how exposed the external unit is? My Daiken one is in a sheltered area whilst the Fujitsu is more exposed. Will it defrost less if it's protected more?

Sometimes a bit of airflow from sitting in a slightly more exposed spot can prevent frosting. Unfortunately it's often the aesthetics of the installation that rules.

Oddly, we have four in a row up on the roof in one installation and the unit that drops into 'defrost' just when you don't need it (8.30-9.00am) is the first one to get the sun on it. Because of the contract I have to get the team in and they can't figure it.

**dangerous** · 25th July 2009, 21:14

Originally Posted by newbould

Chill out Molly

... I think thats what he is trying to do, bloody poms

**Molly** · 25th July 2009, 21:15

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated and thanks for the offer of help. First I'll try not asking quite so much of it and see if that helps (works with the wife...).