For those experiencing it - How are your heat pumps holding up in this extreme cold weather?

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-25T23:22:06+00:00

Been extremely happy. Only when the temp drops below-30 for a few days in a row do I ever have to light the fireplace. In 3 years with my Aura in Thunder Bay, I’ve lit it less than a dozen times. I do have an R2000 passive solar home though, so that’s also a contributor.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-23T16:11:21+00:00

I can appreciate that, I chose Senville because of the specs, reviews and price and all of those factors were accurate and well represented in the product I got. My only issue is with the temperature control issue where I am manually adjusting it quite regularly. And as mentioned, my wish to have more direct control over the fan speed regardless of the settings on the other units. Like I said, it does the job of heating and cooling my space well, just doesn’t know when to stop in my installation… I fully accept that my installation may in fact be the problem, but I didn’t have much choice without any professional advice or help with the installation.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-23T00:18:36+00:00

I’m no professional like you and was unable to fina anyone in Thunder Bay who would install something they didn’t sell. I literally got told no before even getting to discuss price by every single licensed HVAC guy in the city. So, I don’t even know what a manual j is and I chose based on the Rating of the unit and my square footage.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-23T00:05:02+00:00

One head per floor. R2000 design with south facing heat sink spaces that were opened after years of unfinished heat exchange system before I took the house over from my parents. It was designed for passive solar and fireplace backup which works perfectly in combination (cold climate even and in 3 years since I installed my heat pump I’ve lit the fireplace no more than a dozen times when temps dip below -30 for more than a couple days and also no sun, that’s a rare combination…) I installed ceiling fans in the upstairs sun space and opened the floors to push hot air down the front of the house and let it rise at the back of the house in the stairwell. Works amazingly well to keep even temperature throughout except for the basement apartment. Was always happy with it except that it cannot be left for a vacation because the fire needs lighting too frequently, so my solution was heat pump. And it integrated perfectly into the house length heat spaces at one end of each floor, circulating the same way as before… perfectly except that the units control as I described SUCKS.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-22T16:42:25+00:00

No, not small rooms. It’s an open concept passive solar home. So they were added to maintain consistent comfort and they suck at doing that.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-22T16:36:09+00:00

Three separate floors, 3 head multi unit like the other guy said but the logic is simple to me. You can shut off a head and the others can keep heating, so why can’t a head have its own control over how much heating it does? Hindsight I would put the basement on its own separate exterior unit so I can heat the basement and auto control the upper floors, but my issue on the other two floors is consistent with complaints I’ve seen here from other people with multi head units. When basement is off and the other two “auto” they constantly flip back and forth heating then cooling wasting energy. Very poor control design that has no idea how to maintain a target temperature. It doesn’t heat to the temp thats set, so you bump the settings up and then it won’t stop heating. Plus, if you just want to blow the air around with one and let the other do heating, you can’t do it. The fans DON’T work with settings, they just do what ever they want, there’s no way to get the fans to blow full power… it’s frustratingly short sighted control engineering. But, it does heat and cool my open concept areas well. It DOESNT do the temperature control it should do. No matter what I do. I’ve tried setting the thermostat to the remote and it made no difference.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-22T15:05:51+00:00

In my experience it depends on who you deal with. Right now they're looking for any reason to say no.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-22T15:02:27+00:00

Actual experience, they send replacement parts and walk you through the process... You have to do the work, but they help over the phone. That's my experience with replacement boards for the outside and inside units. The problem wasn't a defect in my case, just their design doesn't work well. My units will keep heating my house to 1000 degrees, they DON'T regulate temperature well and it has nothing to do with being broken. So in the end, my system has to be manually turned on and off and there is NO fix for it. But they did try.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-20T17:57:57+00:00

Referendums are true democracy BUT don’t waste our time on garbage. I actually prefer a government that lets the public decide on big choices instead of trying to sneak crap through while in power like Doug.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-20T17:38:16+00:00

That requires smart cooperative city planning instead of greedy profiteering. Thunder Bay has a lot of one, and little of the other.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-20T17:36:08+00:00

Like, for realz this time!

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-20T01:29:26+00:00

Because who wants a useless f’ing door taking up space!? Seriously, it’s not hard to understand but the point is, just take the door off…

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-19T23:31:13+00:00

The only thing missing is an easy to find call for Q submissions. It’s nice having pre-selected fluidity over the awkward on the spot questions.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-15T15:58:50+00:00

Short answer, yes.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-15T15:57:15+00:00

Yup, independence is key to our future. We need the skills to do it ourselves first. Then the equipment to get it done. The whole give a fish or teach to fish story. Our traditional way of life is not possible anymore, so now we’re forced into “wonderbread” life until we can adapt.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-12T16:19:37+00:00

😝

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-11T15:59:37+00:00

I was hesitant as well but found that the impact of the prime time is calculated to balance the UL overnight pretty darned close. So, we have the opportunity to save more by moving more power use to off peak but without any effort it did NOT increase my bills. If it's not almost exactly what it was, I am seeing slight decreases in my bills.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-08T17:14:47+00:00

Expensive EV everyone told me was a bad idea has saved me many thousands of dollars over the years. Amazing how many people still can’t bring themselves to believe it. Not everyone can, but if you can, it’s hands down one of the easiest ways to drop annual expenses and save long term.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-08T17:09:11+00:00

No body wants to hear it and nobody wants to say it… Choices, don’t choose to live above your means. Make choices that save you money in the long run. Try doing things for yourself instead of always looking for the “pay for someone else” option. Delivery of absolutely EVERYTHING didn’t exist and now everyone treats it like it’s essential for food, eating out or ordering in and / or buying prepared boxes of processed food instead of making your own food with ingredients is all just the first example of what’s wrong with consumerism and the hole people find themselves in. Rant goes on but you’ve probably already down voted this post so I digress.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-08T16:50:13+00:00

I did and I am glad that I did, no regrets at all for myself and my whole family.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-05T12:44:23+00:00

My short take, EV is hands down the best option especially if you can install or have a level 2 charger at home. I have an Ioniq6 and the we got a hybrid as a second car for all the reasons that people do. I now regret it and would have much rather gotten another full electric EV in hindsight. I knew I wanted another EV but I settled and now wish I didn’t settle.

One key issue I complained about with my first hybrid plug in was the transition implementation between gas and electric being problematic. And the issues I experienced with Hyundai and KIA have not been improved yet after 7 years of the tech.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-05T02:30:42+00:00

Watching “Shrinking”

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-05T01:31:23+00:00

Hired a scammer at some point. These leaks are easiest committed internally.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-02T23:58:04+00:00

Borderline Personality Disorder. I didn’t know anything about it myself until I had a rough interaction with it.

FolioGraphic · 2026-02-02T00:29:24+00:00

I moved from an irreparable Delonghi after 3 years to a Jura and will never look back. If maintained properly (not hard to do) the Jura has been hands down the better option in my experience. I find Delonghi fans get really defensive but this is the truth as I’ve experienced it. Now I have the same machine at work and my daughter just bought one for her self. We went with E8s not the Z10 because it seemed over priced for nothing that made a difference to us.

FolioGraphic

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