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Heat Pumps in Michigan Winters.
Arctic heat pumps and closed loop geothermal should be the only heat pumps sold in the state of Michigan.
In Marquette the average temperature is 20° in Dec; 15° in Jan; and 17 °in Feb. Nov & April in the 30s and March the mid-20s. Standard heat pumps end up using their back up electrical elements at these temperatures. Using as much energy as a furnace.
In Detroit Dec, Jan, and Feb average temps are still below freezing, March, April and Nov would offer a COP of about 2 (50% less energy).
With an Arctic unit, In Marquette the COP is above 2 (except for very cold nights) and reach 3 (67% savings) when the temperature was over freezing. In Detroit, COP would remain above 2.5 (with exceptions).
With a closed loop geothermal system that is designed for cold weather, the COP in both cities would remain above 3, again with exceptions.
In the summer the newest heat pumps have a COP of 4 or better for A/C.
In December in Marquette solar produces 4 percent of its annual output (45 of 1228 KWH) [NREL] and in Detroit December is about 4.5% of annual use.
By contrast in Dec residential load is almost 9% of electricity, and 15% of natural gas annual use.
Winter should be our concern when planning for the future.
How do we fix this mismatch?
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Thank Doug for the Post!
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