Thursday; South King County--
Since its operation began in early September, the Heat Pump has been performing properly and reliably. Most of this time the outside air temperature was well above 35 degr F, the temperature at which the installation technician had set the system to switch between the Heat Pump and the auxiliary heat (oil furnace). In December, when the outside temperature loomed into the 20's, and with high humidity, Grumpy reasoned that the switch-over temperature ought to be set higher to prevent frost build-up on the outside heat exchanger coils.
Sometime around the last part of December, Grumpy noticed that the Heat Pump was going into a cooling mode when the outside temperature was near freezing. Grumpy reasoned that this was a process to melt a frost build-up on the outside heat exchanger coils. Grumpy's professional (Mechanical Engineer) solution was to change the outside temperature at which the Heat Pump turns itself off and commands the "Auxiliary Heat" to take over.
But Grumpy became suspicious of the adequacy of his solution when, in early January the outside temperature got into the low- and mid-40's and the Heat Pump was still going into what Grumpy thought was the "defrost mode". So he changed the master control to use "Emergency Heat" only and called the people who had installed the Heat Pump.
Today (Thursday afternoon) the technician arrived, and after only a few moments, ascertained that the master controller had been programmed in reverse! Grumpy had obviously made a change that he hadn't intended to make! Now the heat pump is again working flawlessly.
Meanwhile, Grumpy gathered the data to show the progress of "saving money" with the Heat Pump as compared to depending on just the oil furnace. During the November-December period, we consumed 99 gallons of fuel oil and used 1375 kwh more electrical power than the previous year's period. Calculating that the Heat Pump provides the same heat as an equivalent quantity of fuel oil (211 gallons), Grumpy declares that we "saved" $449.10 this past two months! That's nearly $600 so far this heating season.
Note that the total "equivalent quantity of fuel oil" should approximate 500 gallons by sometime in April. That is the usual time when we have run out of fuel oil in past years.
Since its operation began in early September, the Heat Pump has been performing properly and reliably. Most of this time the outside air temperature was well above 35 degr F, the temperature at which the installation technician had set the system to switch between the Heat Pump and the auxiliary heat (oil furnace). In December, when the outside temperature loomed into the 20's, and with high humidity, Grumpy reasoned that the switch-over temperature ought to be set higher to prevent frost build-up on the outside heat exchanger coils.
Sometime around the last part of December, Grumpy noticed that the Heat Pump was going into a cooling mode when the outside temperature was near freezing. Grumpy reasoned that this was a process to melt a frost build-up on the outside heat exchanger coils. Grumpy's professional (Mechanical Engineer) solution was to change the outside temperature at which the Heat Pump turns itself off and commands the "Auxiliary Heat" to take over.
But Grumpy became suspicious of the adequacy of his solution when, in early January the outside temperature got into the low- and mid-40's and the Heat Pump was still going into what Grumpy thought was the "defrost mode". So he changed the master control to use "Emergency Heat" only and called the people who had installed the Heat Pump.
Today (Thursday afternoon) the technician arrived, and after only a few moments, ascertained that the master controller had been programmed in reverse! Grumpy had obviously made a change that he hadn't intended to make! Now the heat pump is again working flawlessly.
Meanwhile, Grumpy gathered the data to show the progress of "saving money" with the Heat Pump as compared to depending on just the oil furnace. During the November-December period, we consumed 99 gallons of fuel oil and used 1375 kwh more electrical power than the previous year's period. Calculating that the Heat Pump provides the same heat as an equivalent quantity of fuel oil (211 gallons), Grumpy declares that we "saved" $449.10 this past two months! That's nearly $600 so far this heating season.
Note that the total "equivalent quantity of fuel oil" should approximate 500 gallons by sometime in April. That is the usual time when we have run out of fuel oil in past years.
It's great that you are able to calculate and post this information.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is a fantastic difference in your costs. Good job in getting your heat pump in prime condition.
ReplyDeleteHeidi: You mean "good job that they did" getting my heat pump in prime condition! I was so ashamed to find out that it was me who screwed it up in the first place.
ReplyDeleteAt least I had good intentions. Iguess the old saying is true, "Give too much control to and Engineer and anything can happen!"