Heat Pumps...Love Them By cukal6 on May 30, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

We moved into our 100 year old , 3000 square foot farmhouse almost 5 years ago. There was one furnace to heat the entire house. That first winter was COLD! The second winter we added a furnace upstairs. That made things much warmer, but our propane bill was almost $3000. The next winter we decided to switch over to heat pumps. We decided to go with American Standard because they weren't the most expensive on the market, but they weren't the cheapest either. Because we were adding 2 of them, we didn't have to buy the biggest either. We only needed each one to heat and cool 1500 square feet. There are a few reasons I love these heat pumps

1. they run on electricity, not on propane. The only time the propane furnace is used is for backup (if it gets really cold outside, or if we're trying to heat the house more than 5 degrees at one time). However, they do run more than a regular furnace because they are trying to keep the house at a constant temperature. And it's not hot air blowing from the vents, it almost feels cool to the touch. But, somehow it keeps the house warm.

2. The electric company only charges us 1/2 price for the electricity the heat pumps use. They installed a separate meter just for the pumps.

3. They came with touch screen programmable thermostats that are so easy to use. The one for upstairs is set to stay cooler during the day, and heat at night while the downstairs keeps warm during the day, and cools at night. That way we're not heating an entire house when we're only using half of it.

4. The best thing about the heat pumps. Our propane bill dropped to $1000 and our electric bill only went up about $20, saving us about $2000/year. Of course that savings goes towards the cost of putting in the units, but it was definitely worth it.