Need Y'all's Opinion....................

[skinsfan44]

My heat pump crapped out on me last week and the HVAC guy came out today(6/3) and got it working, but it is on it's last leg. It has been worked on many times in the past. It is 24 years old so I guess it is about time. The unit is a Ruud and it has worked okay but I am looking to put in the most efficent, most reliable heat pump on the market. I am talking about both the inside and outside units. I also had a Rudd in my town house, but now I have a 4000 square foot house and it doesn't seem to do all that well. What I need to know is what do y'all have and how well do you like it.

[Terry]

I can't stand heat pumps. They are a weak assed solution to heat and A/C, and I'd rather have those units separately.

But, if you have to go with heat pumps, get a zoned system with a couple of units - perhaps one for upstairs and one for downstairs.

When I lived in Texas I had just under 4000 sq ft, and I had a zoned system. It was far more effient than one unit trying to take care of the whole house.

Basically, in the summer, the upstais gets the hottest (under the roof), and that's where you need more cooling. We could mostly run just the upstairs system, and the cold air would then fall down the stairs and cool off the rest of the house. The loer unit barely kicked on,

In the winter the reverse was true. The wamr air from the lower unit would rise and heat the upper floor. The upper unit would kick on every once in a while.

I believe that system was a Trane.

[Johnny Punani2]

Originally posted by skinsfan44
My heat pump crapped out on me last week and the HVAC guy came out today(6/3) and got it working, but it is on it's last leg. It has been worked on many times in the past. It is 24 years old so I guess it is about time. The unit is a Rudd and it has worked okay but I am looking to put in the most efficent, most reliable heat pump on the market. I am talking about both the inside and outside units. I also had a Rudd in my town house, but now I have a 4000 square foot house and it doesn't seem to do all that well. What I need to know is what do y'all have and how well do you like it.

Wow dude, you have a heat pump in Northern Maryland? I would def go the Heat/AC route. That heat pump had to have been working like a mofo in the winter up there. Going the Heat/AC route should save to a ton on electic bills. Just remember if you go the Heat/AC route buy a gas furnace only! Natrual gas is cheaper and burns cleaner then an oil furnace.

[skinsfan44]

Hey 56Arrington56, I have an all electic house. I live out in the country on 5 acres and their is no natrual gas lines out here. A friend of mine had a propane gas system and it cost him an arm and a leg to run(he now has a heat pump) so I am not going that route. No way am I going oil heat. The price of oil can jump up and down to much and that will make me nervese.

I have a stone wall, raised harth fireplace in the family room and a wood stove in the rec room in the basement so that will help in the heating but I also need my house to stay cool. Thanks for the info, 56. Anyone else have any ideas?