- Feb 18, 2009
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Is there anyway to heat up a house in the cold MN winters efficiently via electricity? I saw one of them being a heat pump but the website stated they're only good for mild climates. Just something I was pondering.
Cryptcoin mining rigs work really well. Didn't run the heater all winter and we had a few -20 degree days!
Electricity is expensive when compared to other energy sources for heat (oil, natural gas, wood)
A heat pump is super efficient, and is probably cost-comparable to the other sources, but does not operate at low temperatures. Well, I think they do, but they can only bring up the temperature ~20 degrees above the outside temperature. So, they're pretty useless for a Minnesota winter.
One of the oddities is that a heat-pump doesn't run "hot", which means that the heat coming from your registers doesn't feel hot like with a gas or oil furnance. It feels "room temperature". So, where a gas furnance will turn on, blast the house with heat, and then turn off, a heat pump runs constantly in cold weather. But it is over 90% efficient.
And don't believe people that claim that "electricity is expensive". There are so many factors in play that such a generic statement cannot be proven.
In my community, with my electric rates, my electricity bill in the winter is HALF of what my friends pay for gas alone. ($200 vs. $400)
Contact an HVAC company in your area to come out and give you an analysis. You could save a lot of money by shutting off gas/oil. But you have to run the numbers.
What are you paying for electric anyway? I'm a little skeptical of that chart, as past data I've seen always shows wood as being the cheapest.
Heat pumps are great as long as the temp gradient is not that large. (see post above).
Now if you can also use ground loops to draw the heat (more $$ but larger temp gradient), you can make out like a bandit.
A heat pump should not be running constantly in winter.
As others have said, insulate and caulking should be the first step to be energy efficient, not matter what the source.