folivier
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2009
- Messages
- 2,039
My cabin is at 9400' elevation in Colorado and has a wood stove + electric baseboard heaters. Our cabin is basically open downstairs with open loft bedrooms upstairs. Electricity is pretty expensive using the baseboard heaters so I've been thinking of upgrading to another source. Options are propane forced air but that would require a large tank installed and the heater which would be over $10,000 plus the tank rental and installation cost. Another option is a pellet stove but that would be to replace the wood stove and still requires daily attention. We winterize the cabin when we leave in the fall and turn on the electric heat before we leave home for our 2 month winter trip so it's about 50º when we get here. That way we can turn on the water and fire up the wood stove.
We do burn lots of firewood mainly aspen since it's basically free.
Mitsubishi minisplits have the heat pump working down to -22ºF. Our lowest temperatures in winter are usually around 0ºF. The efficiency goes down once you get below freezing ambient temperatures and at our altitude efficiency is also lower. But even if I'm only at 60-70% efficiency the electricity useage is still 1/2 or less than the baseboard heaters. And the heated air should circulate better than what the ceiling does on low. The cost of a 36,000 BTU minisplit would be around $3000 so much less than other options and I can install it myself. Mitsu comes precharged with freon so I'd just need to pull a vacuum on the lineset once installed. I'd keep the baseboard heaters and wood stove in case the temps are extreme.
My question is: is anyone using a minisplit for heating in low temperatures? How well is it working?
We do burn lots of firewood mainly aspen since it's basically free.
Mitsubishi minisplits have the heat pump working down to -22ºF. Our lowest temperatures in winter are usually around 0ºF. The efficiency goes down once you get below freezing ambient temperatures and at our altitude efficiency is also lower. But even if I'm only at 60-70% efficiency the electricity useage is still 1/2 or less than the baseboard heaters. And the heated air should circulate better than what the ceiling does on low. The cost of a 36,000 BTU minisplit would be around $3000 so much less than other options and I can install it myself. Mitsu comes precharged with freon so I'd just need to pull a vacuum on the lineset once installed. I'd keep the baseboard heaters and wood stove in case the temps are extreme.
My question is: is anyone using a minisplit for heating in low temperatures? How well is it working?