discussion The Happy thread!

[great_big_abyss]

Not on gas. We've got an electric hot water baseboard setup.

There was some question as to whether or not we'd qualify as the NB program wasn't keen on doing the heatpumps/mini-splits in homes that didn't have individual room temperature control.

Ideally, our best bet would be to get some electric baseboard heaters for the rooms which won't be directly heated by the heat pump(s).

Since we're already using electricity to heat (albeit in a roundabout way with an electric boiler) the real question is how much more efficient a new electric heatpump will be when compared to a 50 yr old boiler.

I looked into a heat pump when our AC packed up in the fall. We have a forced air system in the house, so the heat pump would have been set up similarly to a conventional AC unit. Unfortunately, the federal program that cut the cost of a heat pump in half ended in the spring, so we would have paid full price. A heatpump would have been $10k for my house, vs $5k for a conventional AC. To make things worse, the climate in Manitoba isn't exactly 'friendly' to heatpumps. Heatpumps start losing efficiency below -10C, and most of our winter is spent well below that temperature. Add in the fact that we heat with cheap natural gas, and it would have probably taken 20-30 years to recoup the additional investment.

My family mostly live in NB where the winters are much milder, and a heatpump totally makes sense in that locale.

 

[sswilson]

I looked into a heat pump when our AC packed up in the fall. We have a forced air system in the house, so the heat pump would have been set up similarly to a conventional AC unit. Unfortunately, the federal program that cut the cost of a heat pump in half ended in the spring, so we would have paid full price. A heatpump would have been $10k for my house, vs $5k for a conventional AC. To make things worse, the climate in Manitoba isn't exactly 'friendly' to heatpumps. Heatpumps start losing efficiency below -10C, and most of our winter is spent well below that temperature. Add in the fact that we heat with cheap natural gas, and it would have probably taken 20-30 years to recoup the additional investment.

My family mostly live in NB where the winters are much milder, and a heatpump totally makes sense in that locale.

If your family in NB hasn't already looked into the Energy Savings Program they should. We were under $70K when we applied so we qualified for a free heatpump install.

Enhanced Energy Savings Program | New Brunswick Energy Efficiency Programs

If your income is under $70,000 we’ll make efficiency upgrades at no cost to you.

www.saveenergynb.ca

 

[great_big_abyss]

My parents and my brother each had mini-split heat pumps installed in the past few years. NO idea if they qualified for rebates, or not.

Fun fact: Even though it does not get nearly as cold in NB as it does here in Manitoba (about 20C warmer, on average in the winter), it cost my brother about 2-3x as much to heat their house as it does for me. Most NB houses heat with electricity, which is significantly more expensive than the gas that we use out here. I'm assuming the heatpump has helped to reduce their heating bill a little.

 

[Izerous]

For my ranting about Purolator and how they treated the packages from Cricut I do have something positive to say. Every interaction with Cricut customer service has been unexpectedly spectacular. Not just email but even calling in and speaking with a human was maybe even only a minute. Dial their number -> make it through the phone tree (was only small intro + select language) -> talking with a real human within 60 seconds or so. Friendly, spoke clearly (no mumbling, no potato phone etc) and while they did put me on hold for a few minutes part way through the conversation to bring up the tracking numbers and such they also checked back in about 5 minutes to make sure I was still there, apologized for the delay put me back on hold for a few more minutes before coming back and finishing the discussion instead of leaving me on hold for a single extended duration.

Compared to all the other support calls I have made recently it really stood out. Wish that level of customer service interaction was the norm instead of the exception. Only other standout company that even comes to mind in the past few years have been ACE (alberta co-operative energy) where all 3 times I called them to setup an account, ask questions etc I have even talked to the exact same human each time (Think his name was Steve)

 

[sswilson]

Just received initial shipping confirmation on the printer I wasn't expecting to get back into stock until next month....

 

[lowfat]

Visions is replacing my tv! So a 55" c4 for equivalent to $400. (what I paid for warranty).

 

[Marzipan]

Visions is replacing my tv! So a 55" c4 for equivalent to $400. (what I paid for warranty).

you had to pay $400 to get the C4 or they used your warranty credit to over the overhead?

 

[lowfat]

you had to pay $400 to get the C4 or they used your warranty credit to over the overhead?

I paid $400 for the extended warranty back in Dec 2019. I decided to upgrade to a 65" C4. I originally paid $2K + warranty for the old tv. They allowed me to put $2K towards new tv. 65" c4 currently sells for $2400.

So I paid $400 back in 2019 and the $400 today. Feels amazing.

 

[Marzipan]

I paid $400 for the extended warranty back in Dec 2019. I decided to upgrade to a 65" C4. I originally paid $2K + warranty for the old tv. They allowed me to put $2K towards new tv. 65" c4 currently sells for $2400.

So I paid $400 back in 2019 and the $400 today. Feels amazing.

okay. as long as you're happy, that's what counts!

 

[sswilson]

Just had our house inspection.... they're going to install 3 heatpump units!!!

One at one end upstairs, one at the other end in the basement, and a smaller unit for the main bedroom. Should be more than enough to heat the whole house and we'll only have to turn on the boiler when temps are expected to drop below whatever the current trigger temp is for them.