Heat Pump/AC worth it?

greenacresusa · #1 03/01/10, 01:17 PM

We have a house that is 26 years old. We have electric baseboard heaters in each room and we use window A/Cs. It's a split level house about 1600 square feet. We are selling in about 6 years to move out to our land in Arkansas from here (MD/PA line) when we retire. Is it worth the cost and effort to put in the heat pump/AC unit? Nothing fancy, not geo heat pump, etc, just your normal heat pump that's been around for a long time. When we built it wasn't thought of as being something you put in a house then. But since then this area has changed from mostly farm country to a bedroom area for the big city an hour away. And nowadays it seems like everyone buying/building a house here now wants a heat pump/AC unit.

We'll like to be able to put our house on the market in the springtime and move by Sept of the year we retire. Would hate to think that we wouldn't be able to sell our house during that time because of the lack of a heat pump/AC. We're trying to get all major upgrades/fixes done in the next several years instead of waiting till the last moment.

We will be having the heat pump/AC guys out in the next couple of weeks for estimates (ducted vs ductless as well). And I've got calls into a couple of local realitors to see what they think of the value of adding the heat pump/AC.

Any comments, etc on heat pump/AC units (cost, type, etc), weather it's worth the cost of putting one in, etc? All ideas welcomed, Thanks!!

GrannyG · #2 03/01/10, 01:23 PM

Years ago, we had the electric company come in and do an energy deal on our house, they suggested we put in a heat pump/AC for our old house. This cost almost $2000 at that time. Our first bill from them was close to $5oo . DH said we would burn wood, I bought a fireplace insert, and we have never used that unit since...it still sits in the window, we paid on it for several years...like paying for a dead horse....I would let the new owners fix it up with their own heating units.

greenacresusa · #3 03/01/10, 01:28 PM

We too heat with wood (air-tight wood stove that we heat the whole house with). Been doing it for over 35 years (in two different houses). We have the electric baseboard heaters but they've only been on once or twice since we built the house. But seems buys want the darn heat pump these days.

Dexter · #4 03/01/10, 01:48 PM

If you were planning more than 6 years of usage I would say definitely yes.
You could consider it an investment for possible resale but I would talk to a few real estate agents first for an informed decision.
If ducting is not yet in, I'd say most likely not.

Callieslamb · #5 03/01/10, 03:16 PM

WE have a heat pump/AC unit. We also have electric somehow. The elec warms the house until it gets really, really cold and then the heat pump goes into action. Our Elec bill runs about $150 a month. We used 1 tank (500 gallons as full as they fill it) in one year. Our house is 1400 sq ft - 15 years old with a basement that is heated.

I think you have to look at what it will cost you to put it in, how much you can save on heating bills and decide if it is worth it to you. If bad comes to worse, at selling time, you can always offer $XXX to upgrade the heating system.

Joshie · #6 03/01/10, 11:46 PM

I know that we saw a great piece of property advertised locally. It had a newer house and a lovely old house. When we saw it we thought we could live in the newer house and rent out the large old house or even sell it with a few acres. The rest of the land amounted to about 85 acres and it had tillable acreage, pastures, woods, a lake, and a creek.

We didn't purchase this property because of the wood heat. The buildings were not exactly as advertised. I know that in this area it would be quite difficult to obtain insurance for that.

My thinking about getting air conditioning is this.... is it standard in your area? If it is, I'd put it in your house now. It will make your house sell much more quickly than it would otherwise. You'll also be able to enjoy its use. These types of units are so much more comfortable than window units.

Really, this is a decision that only you and your family can make. Personally, I don't wish to be without air again.

tamsam · #7 03/02/10, 12:53 AM

Heat pumps are only good down to a certain temp, then heat strips take over. That is where it uses a lot of elect. I had a heat pump put in a house in NC and it was ok but never felt warm. Power bills were higher than I thought they should be. Air worked great. When I came to WV I lived in a 36 ft motor home and heated it with mostly 2 ceramic elect heaters and my reverse cycle ac units. Now after growing up with wood heat and then kerosene, it was a culture shock when I moved in with DW and had natural gas. I stayed cold all the time. When we bought this place and started rebuilding this old house built in 1930 we insulated everywhere we could with as much as we could. We now heat with wood and coal and I am no longer cold. When we are away we use a propane gas heater and a couple ceramic heaters to keep the water from freezing. Also when the power is off we stay nice and warm. We were offered a heat pump system for here but turned it down. Did I mention I love our wood heat. Good luck with whatever you install. Sam

auctioneer · #8 03/02/10, 02:38 AM

I've got a Trane/American Standard heat pump. Junk!

Deacon Mike · #9 03/02/10, 06:00 AM

It sounds to me like the AC part what not be helpful. With baseboard heat, you likely have no duct work to tap into to deliver the AC. You would need to add ducting, which would drive more cost

fetch33 · #10 03/02/10, 06:28 AM

I have a Carrier high efficiency heat pump/gas furnace hybrid system. It was pricey, about 9K for a 2000 sf house. But the AC was out and we had already replaced the furnace once with a POS system for 4 K, so we decided it would be worth the cost and help with resale in the future. The heat pump works for AC and heat until the temp gets too low, then the gas furnace kicks in. Our bills have been lowered significantly. We probably spend at least 70-100 less per month in the winter. The savings in the summer is pretty decent too. Overall I am very satisfied with it.

Randy Rooster · #11 03/02/10, 06:48 AM

Definately worth it. It will save you money ! and keep your house very comfortable. Get the highest SEAR rating one you can afford- something at 14 or above ( thats a measure of efficiency rating)

MN Gardener · #12 03/02/10, 07:57 AM

If you do decide to get the system, remember there are many rebates / tax credits for the systems. Also, there are other types of AC that do not require duct work. I does not cost anything to have a professional come out and go through your options with you. I think that even if it does not add to the value of the house, it will help it sell faster.

greenacresusa · #13 03/02/10, 11:22 AM

We talked to a few realitors yesterday and today. The result is, yes around this area buyers most definetly want heat pump/AC units. And as another poster had said, even if it doesn't increase the selling price much it should make it sell faster once we list it. That will be important since we can't move and build in Arkansas until we sell the house up here.

Our next move is get the heat pump guys in for estimates for both the ducted (needs to added) and the ductless types. Good thing is that my younger son has his own electrical company and will be killing the old baseboard units so we can not only get rid of them but also use the breakers in the box for the new heat pump.

Thanks for everybody for their ideas and input. If anyone has any more thoughts on this please let us know.

Thanks

countrysunshine · #14 03/02/10, 02:17 PM

I just came to this thread to post what you have already learned. Add it for your resale ease. Most people are spoiled and think they HAVE to have AC. Fact is some of us do. I have to turn mine on when I don't want to because of my asthma sometimes.

Since you want to sell your house in the future and sell it quickly you need to make choices aimed toward that and not just your personal preference.

Get several estimates.

Good luck.

CS

p.s. We built our own home and did not install a furnace or CA until we had lived here 6 years. I love having the wood burner going but most people I know would not want it to be their only heat like it was for us. It is too confining for most people these days. They have a LOT of social activity going on.

Cindy in PA · #15 03/02/10, 05:13 PM

We've had a electric heat pump for 26 years, but never rely on the electric for heat, we burn would & coal in the winter. If we were to do it over we would get an oil or gas backup (as opposed to electric which is costly to use) and then it would be great. My Dad installed one years ago in his old house & used his oil burner for backup.

#16 03/03/10, 12:38 PM

My take on your situation is this . You are only considering doing this for future resale value ? Even though it might save you some money while you're still there , I doubt the break even point would come before you sell . As uncertain as the economy is right now I would wait & evaluate the situation later . I think having central heat & ac is a great selling feature & a new unit installed not long before you sell would be even better rather than a 6 year old unit with some of the newness worn off . Who knows what's going to happen in the next few years ? Economy wise I think things are going to get much worse before it starts to get better . I sold a home about 4 years ago & I had replaced the old furnace with a new high efficiency gas system . The buyer was so excited about the new system that he overlooked many other upgrades that needed done .

Joshie · #17 03/03/10, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WV Hillbilly

My take on your situation is this . You are only considering doing this for future resale value ? Even though it might save you some money while you're still there , I doubt the break even point would come before you sell . As uncertain as the economy is right now I would wait & evaluate the situation later . I think having central heat & ac is a great selling feature & a new unit installed not long before you sell would be even better rather than a 6 year old unit with some of the newness worn off .

I think you have a good point but..... A six year old system is a newer system. Personally, I'd think about the six years of enjoyment I'd get out of this system. When my hubby and I recently sold our house he stated that we should have made the changes we made (to make the sale) years earlier so that we'd have had the chance to enjoy them.

greenacresusa · #18 03/04/10, 06:26 AM

Well we've called several HVAC places and have three of them coming out next week to look it over and give us some estimates. From our research and the way our house is built it appears that the ductless type of heat pump will work best and be cheaper for us. But we'll get estimates on both from each person. Plus with the ductless it will be less work inside the house and much less labor time which is usually the expensive part.

Not only will we get to use the AC part the next 6 years before we sell (doubt we'll use the heat much since we heat exclusively with wood heat for the whole house) and we'll turn the heat on now and then just to test it out and keep it maintained. Plus right now the tax incentives and our local electric company's rebates for installing it should help some too.

We thank everybody for their ideas/viewpoints both pro and con. We'll have to let you know how the estimates turn out next week.