Seems strange that you have a heating load of 69,000 BTUs, and a cooling load of 56,000 BTUs.
I don't follow this either, but that's what's listed under "equipment load"
I didn't think you had such hot weather up that far. I would have thought your winter was more extreme then summer.
Depends. Heat in the mid 80s and even 90s in normal. Add in the humidity and ugh.. Winters stink, too. I am counting the years till I can get the hell out. Cold winters, sticky summers and HUGE taxes are no fun
A. Look to see what improvements you can make to your house in the way of insulation, air tightness, maybe better windows.
About all I can do is add insulation to the attic & check for leaks. I have Anderson low E dble insulated windows already.
B. Average house hold uses about 275 gallons of oil a year for hot water. So that means you currently use about 575 gallons for home heating with your current dual fuel system. A higher efficiency heat pump, might knock 100 gallions off of that. And maybe another 15% reduction on your electric bill.
Can't tell. The Carrier guy estimates about 116 gallons. We have a very high efficiency front loading washer, only run the dishwasher when full and don't take hours long showers!.
C. Propane could cost more then oil. Find out all charges before switching. If you rent the tank, you pay rent per gallon you use.
A real possibility. Still looking into ALL of this. Part of me is just sick of sending $ to the wackos in the middle east.
D. Setting your current HP lock out temp lower, may save you almost as much as a new high efficiency heat pump on your heating bill.
Exactly. If I read the print out he gave me, the "new" heat pump wouldn't kick on until it hits an average of 27 degrees, albeit with a high low cop of 3.38 & 2.6 vs 2.9 & 2.18 as the old Lennox has. Might now be enough to justify some big $$ just yet, as Lennox tells me the unit might easily last another 5-10 years. Whether I should keep it that long is a separate issue.
E. Setting your HP lock out lower, will prevent some of your current furnaces short cycling that is costing you money with that high lock out temp.
Excellent point. Thanks
On the hottest days, does your current HP cycle on and off, or run continuously and not maintain set temp?
Neither that I can see. It did freeze the coil once. Our biggest issue is the humidity. Can't get it below 50%. I suspect lower humidity would allow us t raise the cooling temps from 74-75 to even higher.
Whats your electric rate. Including all transmition charges, and taxes.
Good question. AFAIK, and what the utility told me, is to use 15 cents per kwh.