4 Ways to Make Sure You Get a Good Deal on a Heat Pump
Of the 20,000 + home owners in Nova Scotia who purchased a heat pump in 2014 a great number of them only considered price as a deciding factor.
For many of us it’s just our default response to gravitate to the lowest price when comparing different products. What most home owners don’t realize is it takes at least 12 months of ownership to determine if you indeed got a good deal or not on a heat pump.
Time the Great Equalizer
To know how good of a deal you got you must go through a full winter and summer with your heat pump.
Why?
Because only after using your heat pump for a full summer and winter can you know:
If it’s the right size to maintain comfortable temperatures in heating and AC modes
- If it’s as efficient as you hoped
- If you saved what you expected on heating costs
- If it’s dependable and made it through the winter without requiring service
For the rest of this post we’re going to look at the other things you should take into consideration, aside from price, before making your purchase decision.
If you take each of these four items into consideration you’ll drastically increase your chances of getting a GREAT DEAL on your new heat pump.
Efficiency Ratings
All ductless and central ducted heat pump systems have several efficiency ratings you can compare. The three most important for our Nova Scotia climate are:
- Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF)
- Coefficient of Performance (COP)
- Low operating temperature
Comparing all three of these stats gives you a good indication of which unit will save you the most money during the winter.
Heating Seasonal Performance Factor
The higher this number the better. A heat pump with a higher HSPF rating means it takes less electricity to extract the same amount of heat as unit with a lower HSPF.
We advise home owners not to purchase anything that has an HSPF under 10. For those looking for the most efficient unit look for a ductless heat pump with an HSPF over 13.
Coefficient of Performance
The COP of a heat pump is the ratio of heating or cooling produced to the amount of electricity consumed to create it. Like HSPF the higher the COP the more efficient a heat pump is.
For example, a ductless heat pump with a COP of 4 means it produces 4 units of heat or cooling to every 1 unit of electricity.
In contrast an electric baseboard heater produces 1 unit of heat for every 1 unit of electricity. In the above example the heat pump with a COP of 4 is four times more efficient than an electric baseboard heater. This means big savings on your home heating costs, if you have electric heat now.
Look for a ductless mini split that has a COP of 3 or greater. The higher the better.
Low Operating Temperature
Where the previous two items relate to how efficient a heat pump is this rating tells you to what outdoor temperature a heat pump will operate.
Some low to mid level models will only operate down to -15°C. In our opinion that isn’t quite low enough for our Nova Scotia winters.
We advise purchasing a heat pump that operates to at least -20°C if not -25°C.
Here is a comparison table you can download which compares the top 9,000, 12,000 and 15,000 BTU heat pumps on the market.
Potential Savings
We’ve done quite a few blog posts and videos covering the potential savings of a ductless or ducted heat pump.
Related Posts:
A more efficient heat pump, one with a high HSPF & COP rating and lower operating temperature, means you will save more money on heating costs than with a less efficient heat pump.
It’s difficult to put a dollar amount on exactly how much more you will save because every winter, every home and every home owners temperature preferences are different.
The additional savings from a more efficient system can drastically reduce the price difference between a high end and low end unit . If you consider the cost of ownership and operation between the two over a five year period the more efficient unit can be a better deal.
Warranty
We hope you never have to make a warranty claim on your heat pump, but lets face it, if you ever did isn’t it good to know the repair cost will be covered?
A heat pump warranty is broken down into three pieces.
- Compressor warranty: this is the largest and most expensive part of your heat pump
- Parts warranty: this covers everything else besides the compressor
- Labour warranty: this would cover the replacement/repair of parts or compressor
Be sure the heat pump you’re considering does have some labour warranty, as the cost to replace a compressor or main board on a heat pump can add up.
We’ve spoken with home owners who thought they had labour covered on their heat pump but ended up getting a bill after the fact when a repair was done. So be sure to clarify what is and isn’t covered under the warranty before you buy.
Contractor
Why consider the contractor? Because if you do need help down the road with proper operation, maintenance or service work you want to know who to call and be sure they’re around to help.
There are a lot of fly by night companies that have jumped on the heat pump bandwagon the past 24 months. Be weary that a good price today might not seem so great if you can’t get a hold of the company who sold you the system down the road.
Ensuring you get a good deal
It’s not hard to get a good deal on a heat pump if you consider all of these factors and not just price.
Here’s a recap for those that may have scanned right to the bottom of the post.
- Compare efficiency ratings including HSPF, COP and out door operating temperature. More efficient units cost less to run but more up front while lower efficient units priced less up front cost more to run
- Compare warranties on the compressor, parts and labour. Often lower cost units do not have a labour warranty or if they do it’s very short
- Feel confident in the company doing the install. You may need them down the road for maintenance, service or just a questions.
Good luck finding the best deal for you on a heat pump.
