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QUESTION:I have a house in the design stage and will soon have to deal with a HVAC
company. The house will be located in San Ramon, Ca. Now that gas is no
longer regulated, it is not a done-deal that gas is cheaper than
electricity. San Ramon, while in the San Francisco Bay Area, does need
cooling. Since cooling is required and the environment doesn't get very cold
(generally in the 40's to upper 30's during winter nights), a heat pump
sounds like the way to go. However, my gut feeling is a gas furnace with AC
will be more reliable in the sense that the gas furnace is virtually
maintenance free (in my experience) while AC is pretty flaky. All that said,
is there any data regarding which method (gas/AC versus heat pump) is more
economical to operate.
Regarding heat pumps, I've noticed only Lennox bothers to state a noise
level. However, is a Lennox really quieter than an Amana? For new
construction, the price of the unit isn't that big of a deal. I rather have
performance and minimal headaches. I've already read enough the internet to
determine you can't find the most trouble free heat pump. There is no
consensus of quality out there, and none of the manufacturers has mtbf data
on the net.
ANSWER: Simple solution.
Get a gas furnace with back-up heat pump.
That way you have A/C in the spring/summer and you can switch to what
you wish for the winter with the gas furnace and electric heat pump.
By the way, Gas furnaces are NOT maintenance free, nor is any of the
other equipment.
The economics of its operation is related to the cost of the gas and
the cost of the electric.
Only thing to assure your quality is to get a 10 year (or more) parts
and labor warranty. It wont assure the quality but at least you wont
be payin for the poor quality installation or repairs for that amount
of time.
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