No More Oil Heat - We Installed an Air-To-Water Heat Pump

We installed an Arctic Heat Pumps air-to-water heat pump and fan coils in phase 1 of our heating and cooling upgrade

[@goonzsquad1]

My guy, Teflon tape and pipe dope, works like a charm lol

[@snoflite5234]

Good job. Great to see people who still DIY stuff in todays world. I have tried hard to teach my daughter mechanical/electrical knowledge to have for the future.

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thank you!

[@katzetomsagichnedd1883]

Good job and best way to heat and cool efficient and without low co2…if the heat pump could be use solar voltage power, than the enrgy cost will be better and co2 is just perfect.Thx for this interest video-.LG from Germany 🙂

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thanks for watching! Our long term plan is to integrate solar pv to reduce our reliance on the grid

[@dcsalamon3328]

Great job! Thanks for sharing!

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thank you!

[@jedeckert9525]

Teflon and pipe dope everything. Soft set like monster brand.

[@tomgeary5110]

I have a lot of respect for you and your wife. It is so nice to see a young couple that wants to keep this old house going and recognizes the history it represents.

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thank you very much!

[@juancderas1654]

@@betweentwobrooks great alternative , instead of oil,.would you PM?

[@LateForDinner-mn1hn]

Just went through an unusual cold snap of -40°C (-41.8°F) up here north of 50 in Canada, our Arctic heat pump system worked great. It looks pretty much the same as yours and we have all in floor hydronic in Radiantboard by Ecowarm. The backup boiler kicked in for the couple of days required to keep the buffer tank temperature at 35°C but now that the temperature is much warmer (+4°C to -8°C) so our buffer tank is only needing to hold a temperature of about 24°C to keep our house at 18°C (we like to be a bit cooler because we are still doing interior finishing work). We actually tore down most of the 1978 built house and rebuilt double stud walls for ~R48 with ~R60 ceiling so our heat loss is very low. There were some issues finding trades who were willing to learn about the system and do the installation for us but adopting “new” technology is always going to be viewed with skepticism by those who choose not to learn new ideas. We wouldn’t go back to using natural gas because it’s just not as comfortable and the future costs are only going to go up. At least with electricity we have the option of adding solar panels and tying into the grid to further control our electricity costs. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@betweentwobrooks]

Its great to hear from someone else with this system. How long has your Arctic heat pump been in operation? Thank you for watching, we really appreciate the input!

[@LateForDinner-mn1hn]

@@betweentwobrooks We’ve been on quite an odyssey with our house renovation/building project so from the time we ordered it to actually getting it operational was quite a lot longer than we’ve had it heating our house. But it’s working really well and the switch over to the backup boiler when the outside temperature went below -27°C ( our set point) was seamless and it kept the buffer tank at the best temperature for heating the house when the temperature dropped down to -41°C. We’ve had it working since the beginning of November so it hasn’t been that long, we don’t have an electric bill yet to see what our consumption was. We also are not living in it yet, still have some flooring and other finishing work to complete before we can move back in. You are absolutely correct in your video about using a generous amount of sealant with the Teflon tape, the plumber that did all the connections had to come back to re-do some fittings on the tank to fix the leaks. More sealant and not too much tape is the trick.

[@dianna2911]

Oh man, it's a good thing you are handy; I would've been lost about 30 seconds in, lol. You both are doing such a great job and are both so patient. It's a good thing. Happy New Year to you all!

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thank you!

[@jarralryter]

Nice work. I am planning a similar unit for heating only in Colorado. Loved that you admitted and showed your mistakes. Takes guts on this site. One thing in the instructions was using a loctite product on the tank. Maybe that would work better on that? Loved seeing it all put together and with your mistakes--helps others not repeat. I did see that same error hooking up the manifold backwards or similar. Would love to see more of these. Would you take questions as DMs?

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thanks for watching! Send an email with any questions, [e-mail]

[@danf2588]

Looks like you did a fine job installing your system. I would be interested to know what the supply water temperature is from the heat pump at lower outdoor air temperatures below 15 Fahrenheit.

[@betweentwobrooks]

I have the max outlet temp set at 120F when it is 7 degrees outside, I'm running outdoor reset control so the water will get cooler as outdoor temp goes up. It has only been down to about 15 so far this winter but we have not wished for warmer water yet... Thanks for watching!

[@mariusm3595]

You will have fun playing with water as a media. Possibilities are endless. The fun part is you can do it all by yourself....

[@betweentwobrooks]

Yes, being able to do it all myself was one of the major factors leading me to choose an air-to-water

[@bigc8300]

At least all your joints are consistent. My bad.

[@786otto]

Use a spray foam contractor to insulate your creepy crawl space. Good luck with your heating experiment.

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thank you!

[@juancderas1654]

Great setup, is this system using premixed ready glycol or water? Did require permit for electrical and plumbing if DIY ?

[@betweentwobrooks]

I am using 30% glycol for freeze protection. In our town permits are required even if diy

[@walterdavis3638]

Curious about tbe costof the system. We are looking at air to water for under floor hearing. Do you have any operating cost so far? Thanks for the post.

[@betweentwobrooks]

I'm planning to put a video together on cost very shortly, once we are done with this heating season. The initial purchase price is probably a little higher than a gas or oil boiler/furnace. Operating cost is looking pretty similar to oil this season but we have been keeping the rooms serviced by the heat pump a little warmer than in previous winters. Stay tuned, I'll have more details in the near future. Thanks for watching!

[@yfdfireman2]

I’m going to suggest 2 things for this system. The first is get a whole house surge suppressor and the second is to put local surge suppressors on both the outdoor unit and the indoor power circuit. It is cheat insurance and will protect all of the electronic components.

[@yfdfireman2]

Also, beautiful install!

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thank you! When we moved in we had the electrical service upgraded to 200a and they installed a whole house surge protector at that time. I also have a surge protector on the outdoor unit.

[@leecrawford8039]

System design is simple if done correctly with suitable radiators and pipework sized to the heat pump and heat loss of each room and building with new weather compensated controls and insulation.dont see what the problem is all of Europe has been doing it like this for years just I honestly think America seems to be a bit behind on that for some reason

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thanks for watching!

[@anthonyspadafora1384]

Always use tape and dope. You left no way to isolate and drain the water pressure from your expansion tank for checking air pressure in your bladder, always use a expansion tank valve. The unit I assume is 5 ton or 60k BTU. Im not sure where you live but most old and drafty homes in eastern PA require 80 to 100 K. It will be interesting to see how long its lifespan is. Heat pumps in this area usually go 12 to 14 years although your monoblock should be a lot less to replace labor wise.

[@betweentwobrooks]

Thanks for the tips! Yes, it is a 60k BTU heat pump. Our heat load currently is around 120k BTU, our goal is to decrease this with some insulation and air sealing. We will still probably need a second heat pump unit to meet full load once the whole house is converted.

[@dansmith436]

i was screaming at the screen when you put the flow and return from the buffer in, no where near tight enough :L all a learning curve tho, loved the series

[@betweentwobrooks]

Yes, I scream at it watching now... I'll have another video with more details but it is a composite tank and I didn't want to strip out the threads. I made a poor choice of thread sealant but it all worked in the end! Thank you for watching and all the great feedback!

[@kerplunk38880]

That new system is an absolute nightmare. Ultra complicated. You'll regret it over time.

[@CT-vm4gf]

Some people probably said that about oil heat when it first came out.

[@mariusm3595]

No worries. I installed plenty of Air to Water heat pump systems. They work fine. Its really fun to work with water.

[@kerplunk38880]

@@mariusm3595uh huh

[@Bmonkevr]

@@mariusm3595where did u learn this stuff? I’ve been doing hvac for 10 years but looking to get into this stuff. So many parts

[@anthonyspadafora1384]

They work well except they have a short lifespan compared to a boiler. When you add the second unit you will have to rearrange your piping to primary secondary. Someone should have told you this then your second unit would have been plug and play. 2 units will give you some redundancy as I know very few GOOD mechanics that will work outside in the snow and freezing temps to repair it.

[@tim5158]

Carbon neutral? No electricity? Lol

[@jasongeo2]

What a nightmare. Hopefully the electric grid stays on for your sake.

[@henningquast8456]

Without electricity a oil fired boiler would also have quite the trouble igniting, wouldn’t it?

[@jasongeo2]

@@henningquast8456 nope. You keep a small generator around or deep cycle car batteries and a inverter and your good.

[@homeistheearth]

​@@henningquast8456it is inside the house -- these air to water heat pumps usually are mounted without a exchanger and glykole, so ik case the power goes away, you also would need to drain the system or you might need a new pump, exchanger ( new gas, soldering new exchanger etc ) or something else if this Freeze.

[@henningquast8456]

@@homeistheearth High end monoblock heatpumps (heat exchanger in the outside unit) have special valves that release pressure from the water lines going from the monoblock to your house once they sense below freezing water temps (don’t ask me how they work in detail, I’d have to research it). This would save the lines if only your heatpump broke but the auxiliary electric heat could stay on in your house. If you have a total grid failure and your entire house drops below freezing, you’d have to drain your heating system which would of course suck.

[@duotronic6451]

Pipes, wires, conduit hanging at any random direction and angle. *shudder*

[@outspokenwitness8744]

Id have kept the oil system. The money paid for the new system would have more than have paid for the the fuel oil for the rest of my life.

[@tomkacandes8286]

What is this comment based on? Nothing, no experience with the technology, just negative spouting off.

[@foggysail9869]

Maybe! I contracted have a Mitsubishi (2 each 3 ton) system with ceiling cassettes installed this year. but back to OIL! I burn over $4K for the stuff every year so how long do you expect to live?

[@UQRXD]

And you will get a savings back 30 years from now. Too much to go wrong.

[@michaelshanahan9578]

What a complete waste... First it looks DIY and You installed a air to water heat pump and removed all the radiation in the house and installed two fan coils units... You might as well just installed 2 mini splits and saved 1/2 your time and money... I've been in the industry for 40 years and don't recommend anybody following your advice.... And for the people thinking about this for your house, They dont make a air to water heat pump that will replace your gas or oil boiler with conventional radiators, convectors or baseboard systems...

[@betweentwobrooks]

You are correct that you cannot just hook up an air to water heat pump to your existing radiators and expect it to work, and eventually the radiators installed in our house in the 1960s will become unnecessary. We looked into mini splits, but this house would have required about 10 units so we looked at more centralized options. Future build out of this system will include two central air handlers to service the majority of the house. None of this is advice for anyone to follow, just showing what we are working on. Thanks for watching!

[@k-laus9435]

Not there with you yet in experience but as a 30 year tech I completely agree with you. Every thing you said in your post is exact. I honestly think that the aggravation your gonna go thru over the next years to come will test your patience for sure. I can’t imagine the cost of this and wonder if the initial cost how much money you will be saving over a conventional system. May take decades.

[@RicknessJ82]

Wow, I think a little undeserved hate from this comment. I'll admit, this is not a pretty install, but at least he was diligent about testing it for leaks. Air to water heat pumps are best for radiant floors, ceilings, etc because the massive surface area can put out a lot of heat for a given water temperature. I agree, it would be weird to remove all the old hydronic emitters but I don't think that's what he did, just upgraded a couple to add air conditioning which he didn't have before. The output of the other emitters doesn't drop to zero with lower water temperature, and if they were oversized and the house insulation is upgraded, they can still do a lot if not all the needed heating with air to water heat pump. R290 models are on the way which can achieve higher water temperatures too. Heating oil sucks, its expensive and the companies who sell it are shady, I'm all for finding an alternative, and the economics on my oil conversion to air to water heat pump will pay for itself in 5 years. Not to mention that this is an upgrade, the fuel tank needed to be replaced anyway, and having atmospheric combustion appliances in the home (which all oil boilers are to my knowledge) can put the occupants at risk for CO exposure. Most home renovations have a payback period of never (guess it depends if you think it got you a higher selling price when you do sell), you just wanted to have them because they are nice, so the fact that it will save operating costs significantly is icing on the cake. And I'm just gonna say it, ditching fossil fuels is necessary for the climate.

[@michaelshanahan9578]

@@RicknessJ82 it's not just about the poor quality of the install.... It's a complete waste of material and time and they would have been better off installing a different type of system..... It would have been cheaper and more efficient to retrofit the house for air to air heat pump systems.... And for the rest of the crap you rambled on about just shows that you don't know what you are talking about and you should do research before telling professionals how much you don't know....

[@RicknessJ82]

@@michaelshanahan9578 I don't doubt that you are a great professional, but I have done quite a bit of research on these systems because I put one in my own house. I tried to hire professionals but they all said the same thing as you, forget your hydronics and put in a bunch of mini splits. So I did the job myself and I'm very happy with it. Every case is different and without a detailed analysis, neither of us truly know which system is better for his particular application. All I know is you suggested putting in 2 mini splits and houses usually have more than two rooms, even the owner said, his job required 10, that sounds like a waste too.