Coolheat Blog

The lessons from Winter.

As the focus of our work turns towards summer and air conditioning now is a good time to look back on some issues raised over the last few months.

Power bills in winter are always a big topic of conversation. In our experience nearly all cases of large changes in power bills come down to one of three factors. The first is user behaviour. Leaving your heat pump running at high temperatures 24 hours a day, seven days a week is not advised. While the residence always wants to be comfortable, it always costs more if they want to have a sweltering interior climate.

Secondly, there’s the incorrect quoting and installation of systems. Here undersized or inferior heat pumps, incapable of delivering in harsh South Island conditions, become a real issue. This is an unfortunate reality of a technology that can be purchased straight off the shelf.

Thirdly, there are those who shift from solid fuel heating. No matter how efficiently a heat pump operates it will still represent a large increase in the percentage of electricity consumption for heating purposes if someone has made the switch. This does not take into account subtracting the cost of wood, nor the associated labour costs (stacking, chopping, fetching, lighting) of fires.

There has also been some confusion of late regarding exactly how long a heat pump should be operating for over a day. In many cases we advise our clients to leave their systems on for long periods of time. This does not mean we recommend the heat pump be running continuously. This unfortunately happens both in winter and summer, where doors and windows remain open while the system fights the constant influx of outdoor temperature. It would be like using a vacuum cleaner on your garden path - obviously not the most sensible use of power and efficiency.

Inverter technology provides this efficiency by increasing or decreasing power usage according to the cycle of temperature control, a capability that saves money in both winter and summer. However it still comes down to a thorough quoting process to ascertain exactly what is required. It’s for this reason that we encourage those considering purchasing a climate control system to spend the time getting all the information up front. Do some research and get a consultation from a well-regarded company pre-installation.

Tags: all weather heat pumps, heat pump advice, heat pump installation, heat pump inverter, heat pump use, heat pumps in winter, winter, winter economy