OK so I've been researching like crazy, trying to find the best way to heat my dream house. This is probably my biggest worry in this whole project. Oil heat is just going to be too expensive. I've been thinking that geothermal is my only reasonable long-term option. So I e-mailed a whole bunch of geothermal installers in my area, and one of them came back to me with a much cheaper, but almost as efficient system: the Hallowell Acadia cold weather heat pump.
I sort of ignored this suggestion, but then a week later I Google'd the thing. Well I almost crapped myself. It seems to good to be true, and you know what they say about things like that. The cost would be less than the combined cost of a Hydro-Air cooling system plus an oil burner heating system.
Does anybody know if this is real, or just a scam/scheme??? Please, pass along any information you have about this system.
And I'm going to collect links about this system. I'm sure you could find these same links yourself with a Google search...
The company website:
http://www.gotohallowell.com/
Some dudes named Kevin and John seem to have installed Hallowell Acadias in their own homes:
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?forumID=50&threadID=301971&start=30&tag=forum-w;forums06
You can also find other references to the Hallowell Arcadia if you search the CNET forums.
A story with a video of the Acadia system:
http://www.necn.com/Boston/Business/Acadia-heating-beats-the-cost-of-oil-/1216432211.html
McGuire Air Force Base, Fort Dix and Marlboro NJ residents Phyllis and Seymour Garr install Acadias:
http://tritown.gmnews.com/news/2008/0724/front_page/003.html
WCVB TV Boston (ABC channel 5) runs a story on the Acadia:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/asseenon5/16831616/detail.html
Architect Ed Nilsson of Marblehead MA, installs an Acadia:
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/state/x1542098757/Home-features-two-energy-saving-systems
Yup, even on Bob Villa's website:
http://www.bobvila.com/OnTheLevel/Big-Energy-Savings-for-the-DoD-2982.html
CNET green news article:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9859871-54.html?tag=cd.blog
An article in the Architectural Record:
http://archrecord.construction.com/resources/conteduc/archives/0603edit-1.asp
An article from the Reuters newswire:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS127072+10-Mar-2008+PRN20080310
Not sure who the lazy environmentalist is:
http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/pages/2008/01/efficiency_and.php
Last but not least, a thread I started on heatinghelp.com:
http://forums.invision.net/Index.cfm?CFApp=2&Message_ID=412460
10 comments:
See my post in your post on the Wall.
I would love to know if you went with the Arcadia heat pump, as I am researching the pro's/con's of putting one in my home.
JR
albion223@hotmail.com
Right now I am almost positive I'm putting this system in my house. The HVAC guy looked at my house and can do it in 3 weeks. Also my sister's brother-in-law is building a 5000 sq ft house in Putnam Valley NY and put in 2 4-ton systems, and 1 3-ton systems.
The Hallowell System went in a while ago, but it is not yet turned on. I'll let everyone know when it does go on.
Jim,
How is Arcadia heat pump working for you? What is the heat like, debating between this and radiant floor heating. I'm in NY state as well and live in an old house, which I am tightening up, I can never seem to get warm enough.
Thanks.
Well since the house is taking an eternity to build, I wont know until winter 2009-2010. But the unit is running now, and the AC sure works great.
Nobody's talking about cost of these things. They just say how great they are. $10K? $50K? $100K?
Hey Anonymous, I'll tell you exactly what they cost. For a 4 ton system, my HVAC guy paid Hallowell about $7500. I believe that is more than double what a HydroAir system would cost. That is basically for the outside compressor unit and the inside air handler. The thermostat is about $200 from Hallowell. Then for all the duct work I have no idea what it cost my HVAC tech, for all the sheet metal, insulation, etc., probably a couple of grand. Then the labor charge. So total I paid $28,000 for two 4 ton systems ($14000 each). In retrospect, my HVAC installer said he would charge the next guy $18000 per 4 ton system, it was more work etc than he thought. This is for new construction with no existing ductwork to use.
Anyway for new construction this is a good deal I think (assuming it all works well). It would have cost me about the same amount or more, to put in a HydroAir system for AC (with a heat pump), plus the additional Oil Burner / Baseboard heat system for heat in the winter.
Hey Jim how is the HALLOWELL WORKING IN THIS COLD WEATHER. i AM INTERESTED TO INSTALL THIS SYTEM BUT I WAS TOLD BY ENGINEERS THAT IT CAN NOT OPERATE IN WEATHER CONDITIONS BELOW 20 DEGREES. THIS WINTER HAS BEEN COLD ENOUGH TO KNOW IF THE SYSTEM WORKS,, DID IT AND HOW WELL AND HOW HIGH WERE YOUR ELECTRIC BILLS
Steve
The system worked very well this winter. See the details in another blog post here:
http://ownerbuilderny.blogspot.com/2010/03/hallowell-update.html
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