I just thought you might like to know the results I'm having at my Gile Hill condo with that lovely heat pump you folks suggested and installed for me.
Between the good insulation and the efficient heat pump, I had great results! During the winter, I set my thermostat to 60 degrees at night and 63 degrees during the day. Then if I was sitting and reading or watching TV in the living room, I'd turn on the heat pump to bring temp up to 68 degrees. Now in this heat we've been having, I run the heat pump for cooling down to 72-74 degrees most of the day but off at night (I think I only left it on at night for 1 or 2 nights).
I just checked my propane and electric bills (I have a gas stove) and here's what it looks like for the past 10 months:
propane averaged $26.42/month (max $85, min $10) electric bill averaged $39.28/month (max $63, min $27)
and overall propane + electricity averaged $65.70/month
I'm *very* happy with these results!
The heat pump is almost enough to cool the whole place down though the 2 bedrooms stay a bit warmer. I ended up putting in a ceiling fan in each bedroom which nicely moves the air around and keeps it sufficiently cool. If I had it to do over again, I'd happily do exactly the same thing!
Thanks again to you and the guys who installed the system!! I can't believe how quiet it is (both inside and outside). When I sit on my patio right next to the outside part, I can barely tell when it's on.
Meg