It did not take long until the naysayers on heat pumps also arrived on Bluesky. To all of the "experts" commenting in my feed that heat pumps don't work: STUDY THE SCIENCE! I have - here's my summary: www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-18... - ThreadSky

janrosenow.bsky.social • 81 days ago

It did not take long until the naysayers on heat pumps also arrived on Bluesky.

To all of the "experts" commenting in my feed that heat pumps don't work: STUDY THE SCIENCE!

I have - here's my summary: https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-18-misleading-myths-about-heat-pumps/

Comments

lauriebidaho.bsky.social•81 days ago

Thank you so much for this link, I bookmarked it. I'm a Realtor and very much in favor of heat pumps!

gdnicholson.bsky.social•81 days ago

I asked the HVAC company that services my home about heat pumps and it was like I had insulted him. These dudes have skills and make their money installing gas furnaces and water heaters and any deviation from that is sacrilege. Also, Alberta, Ugh.

jurim.bsky.social•81 days ago

My experience: offer them help with their concrete problem. They vanish.

nick-nacks.bsky.social•80 days ago

📌

josephsabol.bsky.social•81 days ago

I've been an advocate of heat pumps for years. They specific type depends on several factors, including volume of interior, temperature difference between inside and out, absolute temperature of and type of reservoir (ground or air.) Most people see the motel size units, but many others exist.

daveevans56.bsky.social•81 days ago

Hi Jan. Something I've come across is when people have used a public building with a heat pump and complained they take too long to get up to temperature.

Ignorance of how to use them intelligently, is often a problem.

photaculous.bsky.social•81 days ago

Many of the complaints come down to the fact that Gas is a somewhat cheap way to heat a leaky and inefficient house.

There isn't enough motive to fix the inefficient house.

dergorg.bsky.social•81 days ago

Yes. People have to realize that they can heat the outside around their homes with every technology. 😉

marzipandancer.bsky.social•81 days ago

I love me heat pump.

svrooij.io•81 days ago

Especially the “incomplete” points need extra consideration. The statements might be true for the UK, but in the Netherlands there definitely is an issue with the grid, in that it currently cannot cope with the current peak demand.
And “what is case of blackouts”, is also for gas boilers.

holyzarquon.bsky.social•81 days ago

📌

markzecwrites.bsky.social•81 days ago

My heat pump seems to be working just fine, and we're unusually cold for Virginia at this time of year. It was about 14 degrees when I woke up this morning, and the house was comfortable.

Bonus: the heat pump is powered by solar panels.

rackletang.bsky.social•81 days ago

I grew up in Virginia in a house with a heat pump. It was built in 1971. We bought a new one in the 90s but the old one still worked, it just wasn't as efficient as the newer ones

lleopard11.bsky.social•81 days ago

Just block them!

carolalejandra-22.bsky.social•81 days ago

My housing co-op (in Toronto Canada) is going to get heat pumps, yay.

maggiemayg.bsky.social•81 days ago

London, Ontario. I had a heat pump installed last October. I love it. It's a much more comfortable heat than the gas furnace was

thesteve0.bsky.social•81 days ago

Just got a split unit installed last week and I am in LOVE! Every house I ever live in from now on will be some mix of high efficiency wood burning and heat pumps. It just depends on how much usable firewood is on the property

zelawar.bsky.social•81 days ago

📌

carfreeroutes.bsky.social•81 days ago

BLOCK!
👍👍🏽👍🏿

chasbmw.bsky.social•81 days ago

Much of the anti propaganda comes from the Telegraph

arribasellier.bsky.social•81 days ago

Genuinely interested in getting a heat pump but I see very little about the HFCs and similar gases in heat pumps. Do you have stuff on that I could look at?

arribasellier.bsky.social•81 days ago

Also, doesn’t it have the same collective effect than AC in the summer, ie increasing urban temps?

kermamaker.bsky.social•80 days ago

There is no "collectve effect". Heat pumps do not increase or decrease ambient temperature in a significant or even measureable amount.
Urban summer temperatures are increased by solar radiation.

chriabee.bsky.social•81 days ago

📌

scilla.org.uk•80 days ago

Strange isn't it? Lots of people in the USA have aircon at home, in the office, in the car, but nobody theorises that those don't work. Yet it's the same principle, pumping heat in or out. 🤔

tulipacid.bsky.social•81 days ago

In Minnesota and talking to a contractor about a house expansion and HVAC and heat pumps.

Jan temps: -15 to -20.

I've read some stuff (not exhaustively). And he is a naysayer.

If you have some tips, I'd be very interested. At the moment, we're looking at electric heat and heat pumps for AC

iain11011.bsky.social•80 days ago

Heat pumps for AC are the same as heat pumps. Heat pumps also come with electric backup, in case of breakdown or temperatures too low to be efficient. They must be a very inexperienced HVAC contractor, at least from a design perspective.

tulipacid.bsky.social•79 days ago

Building contractor, not HVAC guy.

I can sort of understand the skepticism in our area. -20F is no joke. And we can supplement with a wood burning stove and an unending supply of trees knocked down every year around us.

Will continue to research! And technology is always improving. I guess.

iain11011.bsky.social•79 days ago

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/03/do-heat-pumps-work-in-cold-places-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

tulipacid.bsky.social•80 days ago

Know this, thank you. Our issue is -15 to -20 degrees F in January.

iain11011.bsky.social•80 days ago

Like Norway and Sweden then. They love heat pumps.

mistbm.bsky.social•81 days ago

Fun fact:
In Germany heat pumps are drastically more expensive than in UK and more expensive than in France.
Reason is a not ideal subsidy policy (% of cost instead of fixed sum) but even then, with a work number of 3 or above it is ok.
Nevertheless government needs to fix this.

havantenviro.bsky.social•81 days ago

I think you need to qualify the Germany comment.
What type of heat pumps eg 'air to water' or 'air to air' or some other variant?

There is a significant difference in cost depending on the most common type used in Germany.

alanclarke.bsky.social•81 days ago

I think they’re referring to the 40 c/kWh electricity tariff, not the installation cost

havantenviro.bsky.social•81 days ago

That would make sense!

mistbm.bsky.social•81 days ago

They subsidize up to 40% of total cost, independent of the technology.
This sounds nice but analysts checked pricing and found out that Octopus is charging around 30k€ in Germany for a HP which costs 9k€ in UK.
There are differences leading to increased cost but not that high.

havantenviro.bsky.social•81 days ago

Yeah, but the actual hardware isn't massively different.
What is the 30k for?
A air to water system (radiators) or an air to air system (fan units)?

mistbm.bsky.social•81 days ago

The >30k€ was an example based on a air-liquid-system for a typical house in Berlin.
In France and for a comparable house the offer was 18k€
I Germany: Subsidies cover 50% of the cost, in France there is a fixed sum of 2.5k€

mistbm.bsky.social•81 days ago

Another example:
HP Incl. installation 24k€ offer in Germany, comparable offer for such a building in UK 9k€ (both octopus energy as supplier).

Maybe you can translate the text below.

https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/verbraucher/waermepumpen-kosten-foerderung-100.html

mistbm.bsky.social•81 days ago

But if it makes sense even with high electricity costs in Germany this should encourage everyone in Europe to earnestly consider them.

earlydoors.bsky.social•81 days ago

Humble request. Please make them with a Victorian/Edwardian style design so they are more compatible with UK housing stock.
Think Armstrong at Cragside

dergorg.bsky.social•81 days ago

'Heat pumps don't work - they are non-scientific garbage!' said John Doe to himself just as he opened the door of his refrigerator to grab himself an ice-cold beer.

bmag.bsky.social•81 days ago

We live in an older home in Toronto...4 years with a heat pump now. Couldn't be happier with the results year round.

Heat Pumps. Work.

waltermenteth.bsky.social•81 days ago

It's like saying fridges don't work.
Ace bonkers

stampatore.bsky.social•81 days ago

What they say is nonsens. Heatpump since 10/2023. Saves me €90 per month. Equal price to a condensing Gasboiler 10years!

markaverill.bsky.social•81 days ago

A great article, thank you! Our ASHP arrives at the end of January, looking forward to removing the gas meter 😀

1chf140pts.bsky.social•81 days ago

100% agree. Heat pumps have come a long way in terms of operating range and reliability. It's important to educate people about the potential need for larger radiators, but that's about it.

bisher.bsky.social•81 days ago

I have a heat pump in the suburbs of Chicago and it’s kept my house warm through 2 winters at this point. At this point, naysayers are flat earthers.

kyrsjo.bsky.social•81 days ago

They are installed in about 40% of housing units in Norway. That's almost the same fraction as the number of separate houses.

And yes it gets cold here too - maybe less than Chicago area most places, but Norway is much bigger and climatically more varied than that area.

https://www.ssb.no/energi-og-industri/energi/artikler/varmepumper-reduserer-utgiftene-til-stromavhengige-nordmenn

leftyjess.bsky.social•81 days ago

I wanted a heat pump but it was too expensive. PSEG rebates were for models that wouldn’t fit in my laundry room. The company I was working with said they aren’t good for the Northeast,US. Made me sad.

iain11011.bsky.social•80 days ago

Pretty sure North-east US has the same physics as everywhere else on earth?

tvail4.bsky.social•81 days ago

Anyone look at heating an A-frame? I think I already know the answer...heat rises, wear sweaters.

janrosenow.bsky.social•81 days ago

Here’s one of the “experts” offering up his advice. https://bsky.app/profile/dataarchitect.bsky.social/post/3lciw7t7f6c2c

kermamaker.bsky.social•80 days ago

His expertise first shrunk to "my experience only" and rightly after that he admitted that his experience is "from TV shows"...
😂

stuarthedges.bsky.social•81 days ago

The culture here is not to engage, to block early, block often. I had a glance at that profile and blocked immediately.

I know you engaged with it in good faith but it was a bot or a troll. Just block.

janrosenow.bsky.social•81 days ago

I see - a climate denier. How surprising!

janrosenow.bsky.social•81 days ago

Blocked

stuarthedges.bsky.social•81 days ago

Just in case anyone else saw the post I'll rebut it... My ASHP in a 1975 house cost £2500 (not £35000) and costs less to run than a gas boiler. I'll refer everyone to Jan for the carbon savings which are even more important!

chascroker.bsky.social•81 days ago

I wish that the property programmes, the likes of “Location Location Location”, “Grand Designs” etc etc would engage with ASHPs Solar PV & Batteries, that could make them aspirational?

oburbidge.bsky.social•81 days ago

Imagine grand designs - sponsored by XYZ heat pump.

location location location - sponsored by XYZ solar panels

tony2443.bsky.social•81 days ago

Grand Designs got me interested in heat pumps.
Programmes had Ground Source HP years ago.
Escape to the Country is the laggard, still relentlessly promoting log burners as the must have instead of solar, heat pump and ev charging.
Even with Ginny Buckley as a presenter. 🙄

jasmic.bsky.social•80 days ago

The good old 'I haven't got one but I will happily tell everyone they don't work because that is what I decided when I 'did my research'.

It appears I had already come across them and blocked them.

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