I have an air-source heat pump with all ductwork in the basement. I live in central Pennsylvania. In the summer, if outside temperatures are 85 degrees-100 degrees I want to cool the house to 75 degrees. I have a full underground basement (about 1800 sf) that stays around 65-80 degrees. If my outside HP/AC coils were in the basement (and I had a cold air inlet in the basement) my HP/AC would do much less work, use less electricity and maybe even need a smaller unit than an outside one. Basically going from 65-80 basement degrees to 75 degrees instead of 85-100 outside degrees to 75 degrees.
Same deal for heating in the winter. Outside temps 0-70 degrees outside and 40-60 degrees in basement. Basically going from 40-60 basement degrees to 70 degrees instead of 0-70 outside degrees to 70 degrees. Much less work for the HP.
Where is my logic wrong? What are the problems with doing this (if a professional would actually install it I'm eventually going to need to replace my 18 year-out heat pump and with the rising price of all energy, I thought placing it in the basement could save electricity/heating/cooling costs and initial installation of a smaller unit.
Thanks in advance!
Tim
Your outdoor unit would over heat your basement.
Your outdoor unit is rejecting the heat from the entire house, one supply won't do a thing for the basement if the outdoor unit was installed in it.
You would need a second larger A/C for the basement then.
nothing wrong at all.......be sure to take some pics.
FILL OUT YOUR PROFILE!!
Heat pump in basement........hmmmmmmm
well for one a heat pump is designed to transfer heat from one location to another. which means all the heat pulled from the home will be dumped into the basement. And since here in the good ole USA, heat rises, where do you think it will end up?????
secondly, a heat pump in heat mode will move all the cold air to the basement. Not to mention it will flood your basement with the condensation forming.
I mean, go for it if you want, but don't blame us cause the answer will be "We told ya so"
I fully support the military and the War on Terrorism.
If you don't know, then don't do. If you don't know and still do, then be prepared to pay someone else a lot to undo what you did and then do it right.
If you do know, then do. But do it right. Otherwise, you may not be doing it long.
Got a call at the university of Alberta, they needed server room A/C replaced. So when I went to bid on the job found samsung hanging from chains above ceiling tiles just recirculating air. Lasted 2 years. They wanted me to put it back in same place. Told them no warranty. They let me put it on roof. Cost them a little bit more with low ambient kit and roofer.
Do it right the first time.
I fully support the military and the War on Terrorism.
If you don't know, then don't do. If you don't know and still do, then be prepared to pay someone else a lot to undo what you did and then do it right.
If you do know, then do. But do it right. Otherwise, you may not be doing it long.
This winter it was -42 * c and unit would not work with kit was only rated for -30*c. Who in the hell would have expected it to get that cold. Lost contract due to that. I was on a cruise ship and my guys could'nt get it going, so I called in another company.
Do it right the first time.
Even with enough cross ventilation from the outside and a good condensate removal system, the most that would be gained is from keeping the unit out of the elements. There are many instances where heat pumps and condensers are located inside of large buildings with offices built within them. The same basic reasoning is present.
Once the cross ventillation were enough to handle the heat transfer to prevent the heat removal/gain from the heat pump from recirculating through the system, your basement would essentially be the same temperatures as the outdoors.
While the unit may not be exposed to the elements, such as heat from the sun or possible snow/ice build up from snowy or sleeting days, the unit would also not benefit from being washed off by the rain. Still, there are points to ponder on this one.
yeah, yeah, take lots of pictures and post them directly to the "wall of shame". That will be exactly where they belong. Is that idea anything like perpetual motion? Getting something for nothing? Just leave the condensing unit where it is and turn on the sprinkler next to it on hot/cold days.
Thanks to all those who answered the question! Great info.
My other option in the summer is to circulate the cold air from the basement into my ductwork without running the AC unit. Once it can no longer hold 75 degrees in the house I can turn on the AC.
In the winter, when they built the house 40 years ago they initially put in electric baseboard heat in each room with its own thermostat. I could also circulate the basement air and heat it to 70 degrees using the baseboard heat but that may be too expensive. Probably use the HP then.
Thanks again for the great feedback.
Tim
PS I am a homeowner not a DYI in HVAC sorry, no photos for your hall of shame.
Be carefull of circulating basement air to the occupied areas of the house.
Some basements have enough humidity in them, that it can make occupied areas humidity too high, and promote mold growth.