Remote Living > Heating

Optimising domestic space-heating retrofits from nat gas to heat pump

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bigrockcandymountain:
The frost line here is generally considered 6' below ground.  I think a horizontal loop installed at 8' would be workable.

I would rather do the vertical loops though.  The soil here, when disturbed, is really difficult to get packed back in the trench.  You end up with a sinking hole for the next 50 years. 

I think the basement would be the first place to insulate.  It is bare cinder block and full of cracks and drafts.  It is also poorly finished, and not used for much except storage.  A layer of poly vapour barrier, then a layer of rigid foam, then a stud wall with batt insulation would make a world of differnece. 

The upstairs is only 2x4 with fiberglass batts.  If it was mine, i would just add rigid rockwool panels to the exterior plus house wrap and put new siding on. I have suggested that but no enthusiasm so far.

And ya, the attic would benefit from blowing in some extra there too.  It is blown fiberglass and not super thick. 

Sorry about the thread hijack Damon. What are the biggest challenges converting hot water systems to heat pump? I would guess the lower operating temperature would have to be a factor.  I'm sure there are others.

DamonHD:
Hey, no apologies needed, this is interesting real-world stuff!

One issue is the argument as to whether any heat-pump upgrade should wait until all insulation improvement is done.

Other issues are any need for radiator (up)sizing, and use of controls (eg how long in advance of getting up does your heat-pump need to come on rather than a gas boiler, use of TRVs or not), and new noise outside from external fans, etc.

There are lots of others, some of which I am resisting even typing here!  But a lot of the issues concern getting the humans fixed: those who specify and install, as well as those who are warmed (and/or cooled) by heat pumps.

About my first block on Mastodon was of someone who called me a traitor (to the US...) for living in a small (UK) house, not hating heat-pumps, and being familiar with PassiveHouse!  Or something like that.

Rgds

Damon

MattM:
Maybe you can dig your vertical hole and drop a sealed pipe down at the top of your groundloop, with a thermalelectric coil in it for your dumpload.  The water would be pre-heated a bit closer to what you need for steam but would never reach steam levels.

SparWeb:

--- Quote ---The upstairs is only 2x4 with fiberglass batts.  If it was mine, i would just add rigid rockwool panels to the exterior plus house wrap and put new siding on. I have suggested that but no enthusiasm so far.

--- End quote ---

My father just finished a house and detatched garage.  Between finishing the house without exterior foam and the garage that does, he regrets not putting it on the house.  Both are heated, and aside from size, the garage needs much less energy to heat.  It was so easy to do before wrapping the garage during construction.
As a retrofit, adding external foam would damage/destroy the cladding if it's just cheap plastic.  The waste from that process would put a damper on my enthusiasm.

SparWeb:
DHD,

Reading about your TRV (starting many years ago) has been my one and only contact with the nuances of these radiators. 

The differences between UK construction and NorAm. construction are pretty drastic, as evidenced in this conversation already.

Couple of years ago a French colleague and I drove past a house under construction (we were at an engineering seminar in Seattle). He didn't know what he was looking at because he had never seen wood-frame and sheathing before.  I almost typed OSB but you wouldn't get the reference.  This was an engineer with as much experience as me, so not a dummy. Such things are inconceivable in France (and likely the same in the UK).

Same goes for steam heating, I think.  I haven't seen it except once in my life, and that was a nearly-condemned apartment in old Montreal.  If I see radiators in movies set in the USA,  I automatically know it is set in New York. 

Someone correct me if I am wrong, if there are parts of the USA that use these a lot.

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