Heat pump vs gas furnace debate - my 6 month experiment

I replaced my 20 year old gas furnace with a heat pump last October in Portland, Oregon, and tracked every kWh and therm used through March. The heat pump handled 40 degree days fine but struggled when temps dropped to 25 degrees, costing me 75 bucks more that month than gas would have. Am I missing something with how I'm using it, or do heat pumps just not work well in real Pacific Northwest winters?

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2 Comments

grayjohnson2mo ago

Check your thermostat's aux heat lockout setting, most are set way too sensitive from the factory.

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charles_price2mo ago

lol yeah your problem is pretty common for the PNW. I'm up in Seattle and did the same swap a couple years back. The issue is that most heat pumps start losing efficiency hard below freezing, and Portland gets those random 25 degree spells that kill your savings. You gotta check if your unit has a cold climate rating or if it's one of those cheaper ones that's really only meant for mild winters. If you're paying 75 bucks extra in a bad month, that's honestly not terrible for a non-cold climate system. The real game changer is making sure your heat strips aren't kicking on too much, some people's thermostats are set to switch to aux heat way too early and that's what eats your wallet.

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