I’m a little late here, but wanted to add my comments as I know these posts are used by others as reference and research for years to come.
We had 3 Mitsubishi heat pumps installed this summer, the Hi2 (HyperHeat Pumps that, as described above), heat @ 100% efficiency all the way down to 5 degrees, and continue to work (at diminished capacity) down to -13, where the heat produced is still 100 degrees.
The cooling side of these machines is well known, they kick butt in a serious way. We used them all summer and couldn’t be happier. Our large unit has a turbo mode (get ready for the cold!), standard and eco modes. They also have a drying/dehumidification mode, very convenient.
They’re all controlled by handheld remote controls and wireless wall thermostats. We also control them online, via a browser and iPod/iPhone app! 7 year warrantee, spotless reputation in the industry, there’s so many reasons to get a Mitsubishi!
We got 4 quotes from different authorized installers. All were nice, some were competent. Two stood out as people we’d like to work with. Steve Gorse from Home Energy Products in Belmont was fantastic in every way. Very knowledgably, easy to work with.
We were initially looking at a cooling solution, with the mild heat supplement (the standard heat pumps work at 100% through about 45 degrees, continuing to function below zero at a reduced efficiency.)
The more we talked with Steve, the more obvious the Hi2 solution became, but we got there on our own…there was no hard sell, “here’s what you really should get.” Steve was uber patient as we discussed this and that, and came up with new numbers at every turn, there was no black magic…here’s what this would cost, here’s what this would cost. In the end, after speaking with each vendor about new quotes, Steve from Home Energy Products had the lowest price, but here’s the kicker: he’s the only vendor that told us about the 35%/up-to $2,000 rebate from the NHEC. Done deal, thank you for saving us a boatload of cash! More about this rebate later.
We scheduled the work, the crew was awesome, very professional, clean, this wasn’t their first heat pump :-) I threw one of the guys a loop when I asked, what if we run the drainage line inside the wall? We talked for a few minutes and agreed it wasn’t optimal. Later, he came over to find me, said he was running out the local hardware store to get a couple things and a length of pvc, and that would enable us to not have the drain visible/along the outside wall. The wife was so happy :-)
Home Energy Products contracts with an electrician they use regularly, he and his apprentice did nice work.
A deposit was not required of us, either, which was nice. We paid the installation afternoon, by check.
Steve went out of his way to make sure we were happy, even showing up on install day to make sure everything worked as expected. We highly recommend Steve Gorse from Home Energy Products and Mitsubishi.
The NHEC 35%/up-to $2000 rebate.
http://www.nhec.com/residential_heatpump_rebates.php
The NHEC asks for some paperwork, mostly your historical heating usage, then does a site survey. Then, depending on your home’s energy usage you may or may not need to have an efficiency expert come out and to do a home energy audit.
We were OK, but went ahead with the audit, it costs you $100, the NHEC picks up the balance, well worth it. He came out and hooks the whole house blower the door, measuring air leaks, optionally he can replace shower heads, light bulbs, install a carbon monoxide detector and more. If you’re interested, he’ll prepare a report with work that can be done to improve the efficiency of your home, the cost, and how much it will save you each year/how long it will take to pay for itself.
For us, it was mostly adding additional insulation in attic, sealing up air entry points. Here’s the best part, the NHEC subsidizes that work TOO, at 50%! We just had our work done yesterday, great crew, did some top notch work.
After the heat pumps were installed, there was a free inspection by the NHEC, and shortly after, the two thousand dollar check arrived. WOW. That was sweet.
It’s hard to compare usage between years, but our power bill was lower than last year’s, and we had the A/C on most of the summer. We used window units last year. We’re just starting to use the heat (40’s overnights in late September) but I am very impressed. It’s nice to have zone heat were there wasn’t any before. I’ll let anybody who’s interested know how these hold up during the most bitter days of February, just post here or PM me.
The units are very quiet, inside and out. You can control the fan speed inside(low, med, hi, auto), that’s really the only inside noise. You can control where it blows (up, down, left right, oscillating, not in the center, it gets nuts, but you get the idea.) Only regret, that we didn’t do it sooner.