/ News & Press / Video / How to Install a Heat Pump for Heating & Cooling _ Ask This Old House
How to Install a Heat Pump for Heating & Cooling _ Ask This Old House
WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en
00:00:02.929 we're going to be able to heat and cool 00:00:04.99900:00:05.009 your building the solution starts down 00:00:06.92000:00:06.930 here 00:00:07.40000:00:07.410 we've got a great local HVAC contractor 00:00:09.20000:00:09.210 going to give us a hand and down here 00:00:11.06000:00:11.070 we're going to install a ductless heat 00:00:12.74000:00:12.750 pump now a ductless heat pump we're 00:00:14.74900:00:14.759 using them before they're perfect for 00:00:16.12900:00:16.139 places like this wide open spaces bonus 00:00:18.62000:00:18.630 rooms or even places difficult to get to 00:00:20.66000:00:20.670 now the basic principle of these units 00:00:22.82000:00:22.830 is like any air conditioner we're 00:00:24.71000:00:24.720 actually not making cold we're gathering 00:00:26.35900:00:26.369 heat from inside the building and 00:00:27.56000:00:27.570 transferring or dumping it's outside all 00:00:29.87000:00:29.880 right 00:00:30.32000:00:30.330 there's refrigerant that runs between 00:00:31.91000:00:31.920 this indoor wall-mounted unit and an 00:00:34.04000:00:34.050 outdoor condenser the refrigerant is 00:00:36.31900:00:36.329 very cold so it absorbs heat that's in 00:00:38.93000:00:38.940 the room and transfers it outside where 00:00:41.86900:00:41.879 it's released into the atmosphere the 00:00:44.15000:00:44.160 refrigerant is recharged and is sent 00:00:45.95000:00:45.960 back into the building cold to capture 00:00:48.26000:00:48.270 more heat but these units can also take 00:00:50.84000:00:50.850 the same process and work in Reverse 00:00:52.81900:00:52.829 during the cooler months capturing heat 00:00:55.31000:00:55.320 that's in the environment outside and 00:00:57.04000:00:57.050 transferring it to the inside to 00:00:59.11900:00:59.129 condition the space that sounds great 00:01:01.34000:01:01.350 but is this system going to be able to 00:01:03.20000:01:03.210 keep up with these cold New England 00:01:04.21900:01:04.229 winters you know people don't realize 00:01:06.26000:01:06.270 that even when it's really really cold 00:01:07.91000:01:07.920 outside there's still heat to be had 00:01:09.64900:01:09.659 outside is heat actually in a block of 00:01:11.51000:01:11.520 ice the big breakthrough for us is this 00:01:13.64000:01:13.650 technology called an inverter the 00:01:15.56000:01:15.570 inverter allows us to capture that small 00:01:17.74900:01:17.759 amount of heat that's outside even when 00:01:19.24900:01:19.259 it's down about five degrees take that 00:01:21.71000:01:21.720 heat now move it inside the building 00:01:24.55000:01:24.560 multiply its output and condition the 00:01:26.84000:01:26.850 space it's much more efficient to 00:01:28.55000:01:28.560 actually move heat than to make it now 00:01:30.44000:01:30.450 that sounds great the idea of a heat 00:01:32.39000:01:32.400 pump is not new they've been in play in 00:01:34.10000:01:34.110 the southern states for many years but 00:01:36.44000:01:36.450 they can usually only find heat if the 00:01:38.42000:01:38.430 outdoor temperature is above 30 degrees 00:01:40.60900:01:40.619 Fahrenheit but with a cold with a heat 00:01:42.74000:01:42.750 pump there's an efficient solution even 00:01:44.42000:01:44.430 in the harsh climate like this so all 00:01:46.81900:01:46.829 your heating cooling is going to be 00:01:48.08000:01:48.090 provided by this single outdoor 00:01:49.73000:01:49.740 condensing unit and even though they get 00:01:51.31900:01:51.329 up multiple zones inside there's only 00:01:53.06000:01:53.070 one box outside okay now if they've also 00:01:55.81900:01:55.829 because it has to heat in the winter 00:01:56.95900:01:56.969 they've mounted it on a stand to get it 00:01:58.78900:01:58.799 up above the snow line so can operate 00:02:00.53000:02:00.540 any when snow is falling refrigeration 00:02:02.74900:02:02.759 lines that's a pretty straightforward 00:02:03.77000:02:03.780 one set of larger lines from the unit to 00:02:07.13000:02:07.140 inside so you can see how easy it is to 00:02:09.38000:02:09.390 retrofit into the building and we're 00:02:11.39000:02:11.400 done we're either going to be finding 00:02:13.25000:02:13.260 heat out 00:02:13.94000:02:13.950 side in the winter and dumping it to 00:02:15.29000:02:15.300 inside or in the summer we find heat 00:02:17.42000:02:17.430 inside and we dump it to outside okay 00:02:19.55000:02:19.560 I love everything that you said so far 00:02:21.08000:02:21.090 but does that mean I'm gonna have to 00:02:23.42000:02:23.430 have a single wall mounted unit and 00:02:25.69900:02:25.709 every single room I thought you're gonna 00:02:27.47000:02:27.480 ask me that 00:02:28.13000:02:28.140 no homeowners would like every room to 00:02:30.86000:02:30.870 be perfectly comfortable summer or 00:02:32.63000:02:32.640 winter but the big challenge for me is 00:02:34.64000:02:34.650 that no one wants to see our work 00:02:36.14000:02:36.150 ideally it would all be hidden or at 00:02:38.54000:02:38.550 least low-profile above us here in the 00:02:41.00000:02:41.010 first vote we have a wide open adequate 00:02:43.16000:02:43.170 gives us all kinds of opportunities to 00:02:44.80900:02:44.819 put in an air handle like this this is 00:02:46.97000:02:46.980 actually a ducted ductless air hammer 00:02:49.49000:02:49.500 what is that well you know the unit 00:02:51.80000:02:51.810 downstairs that's Douglas yes all the 00:02:53.90000:02:53.910 same technologies in this but now we're 00:02:55.72900:02:55.739 going to have ducts attached to the 00:02:57.08000:02:57.090 backside return air is going to come 00:02:58.55000:02:58.560 here supply is going to come out here 00:03:01.33900:03:01.349 and there's a coil right here that's 00:03:02.44900:03:02.459 going to either heat or cool and we 00:03:04.19000:03:04.200 looked at this building we could put a 00:03:05.47900:03:05.489 single unit up here maybe two but 00:03:07.91000:03:07.920 actually we looked at the building and 00:03:09.55900:03:09.569 actually going to break it into a 00:03:10.52000:03:10.530 quadrant to give you four different air 00:03:13.00900:03:13.019 handlers on this top floor the reason we 00:03:15.17000:03:15.180 did it is because we can the 00:03:16.69900:03:16.709 refrigeration is so straightforward and 00:03:18.31900:03:18.329 easy from your outdoor condensing unit 00:03:20.47900:03:20.489 we're going to have one set of larger 00:03:22.22000:03:22.230 size refrigerant line sets like this 00:03:23.87000:03:23.880 that's going to take heat in or out of 00:03:25.64000:03:25.650 the building then we come to this branch 00:03:27.62000:03:27.630 box right here and this is really like 00:03:29.90000:03:29.910 electrician circuit panel now we can go 00:03:32.59900:03:32.609 up to five indoor units like this with 00:03:34.72900:03:34.739 small refrigerant line set so this is 00:03:36.34900:03:36.359 all we have to fish to the air hamma's 00:03:37.91000:03:37.920 when we're done you're going to end up 00:03:39.86000:03:39.870 with four zones on this floor each with 00:03:42.44000:03:42.450 their own control efficient heating 00:03:44.09000:03:44.100 cooling filtration and dehumidification 00:03:46.75900:03:46.769 that's not good well that sounds great 00:03:48.94900:03:48.959 let's see how they're doing all right 00:03:51.64000:03:51.650 before the installation began we ran a 00:03:53.90000:03:53.910 heat load calculation to ensure that we 00:03:55.91000:03:55.920 were sizing our system correctly the air 00:03:59.05900:03:59.069 and let's get mounted to the roof 00:04:00.22900:04:00.239 rafters for easy servicing each barrio 00:04:03.25900:04:03.269 homeless needs a few connections 00:04:04.75000:04:04.760 refrigerant lines to each air handler a 00:04:07.69000:04:07.700 drain line to remove the water also 00:04:10.25000:04:10.260 known as condensate a supply duct to 00:04:13.64000:04:13.650 bring conditioned air to the living 00:04:15.22900:04:15.239 space and a return duct to bring our air 00:04:18.08000:04:18.090 back to be heated or cooled the only 00:04:20.56900:04:20.579 thing you'll see in the room is a few 00:04:21.74000:04:21.750 registers in the ceiling a single return 00:04:24.17000:04:24.180 which is 12 inches by 12 inches 00:04:26.69000:04:26.700 and a few 8x8 supplies alright so all 00:04:30.86000:04:30.870 the installation is done you've got an 00:04:32.30000:04:32.310 air handler above your master right here 00:04:33.83000:04:33.840 another one over the two boys bedrooms 00:04:36.02000:04:36.030 right there 00:04:36.83000:04:36.840 one more over the living room and one 00:04:39.74000:04:39.750 here in the kitchen each one with their 00:04:41.39000:04:41.400 own thermostat so you can set any 00:04:43.13000:04:43.140 temperature you want up or down 00:04:44.69000:04:44.700 are those programmable they are 00:04:46.25000:04:46.260 programmable that means you even save 00:04:47.51000:04:47.520 more money and the nice thing is they're 00:04:49.64000:04:49.650 wireless so they easy to install great 00:04:51.65000:04:51.660 so now with all this in place you've now 00:04:53.87000:04:53.880 have an inverter system for zones right 00:04:56.69000:04:56.700 and even on a 5 degree day outside you 00:04:58.91000:04:58.920 should have plenty of heat to heat this 00:05:00.26000:05:00.270 building but what's really nice is it 00:05:01.94000:05:01.950 each air handler for good measure 00:05:03.35000:05:03.360 has an electrical element that's good 00:05:05.18000:05:05.190 for backup and for boost 00:05:06.77000:05:06.780 wow that's great all right well I hope 00:05:08.51000:05:08.520 you and your wife and your kids have 00:05:09.68000:05:09.690 many years of comfortable summer and 00:05:11.57000:05:11.580 winter thank you I can't wait to see the 00:05:13.25000:05:13.260 savings 00:05:19.11000:05:19.120 you
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