Heat Pump - part two

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Some manufacturers have recently marketed what they dubbed as "Hybrid System". Essentially it is a heat pump system that is matched up with a conventional gas furnace. It is designed to be installed with a special controller with an outdoor temperature sensor. As we mentioned last time heat pump loses its effectiveness when temperature drops below roughly 45F. A "Hybrid System" simply switches to gas whenever that occurs. Keeping the heat capacity when it is needed most. It is more expensive but probably the best solution from a comfort standpoint.

A lower cost solution for most heat pump installations is the use of electric strip heat as back up heat source. It does draw quite a bit of power to heat up the space and most are set up for 220V power supply. Those are the main reasons why heat pump is not as common in the Northern California. However when the system is matched up with a solar electric system then consumption is not an issue.