balancing various heating systems (electric baseboard, pellet, heat pump)

[FLBiker]

We just moved from Florida to Nova Scotia, and I'm wondering how best to use our various heating systems.  The primary heating system for the house is electric baseboard -- we have them in every room, and they are all independently controlled.  In addition, we have a ductless heatpump in the home office (upstairs, along with the two other bedrooms) and a pellet stove (in the living room on the first floor, which is open to the dining room and kitchen).  The pellet stove is a Piazetta Monia, so we can set a temperature, start time, etc.  Oh, and we also have an air exchanger.

I'm hoping for some guidance in terms of the right approach for using these heat sources and the air exchanger together most efficiently.  We've got appointments with an HVAC company and a stove company for annual servicing, but not until October and I'm thinking we might need to use them a bit before then.  Any guidance would be appreciated, and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

[lthenderson]

I would turn all of them off and just start with the most efficient/easiest to maintain system first. Most likely this will work for a portion of your house but not all of them. As it grows colder in areas of the house, you can turn on the more inefficient systems just to the point to bring the temperature up the rest of the way to comfortable. In essence, balance everything out using inefficient systems but doing most of the work with the most efficient system. After a bit of time, you will probably develop a feel for what is needed out of each system to keep things to your comfort level.

[FLBiker]

I would turn all of them off and just start with the most efficient/easiest to maintain system first. Most likely this will work for a portion of your house but not all of them. As it grows colder in areas of the house, you can turn on the more inefficient systems just to the point to bring the temperature up the rest of the way to comfortable. In essence, balance everything out using inefficient systems but doing most of the work with the most efficient system. After a bit of time, you will probably develop a feel for what is needed out of each system to keep things to your comfort level.

Thanks!  I like the sound of that.  The tricky thing is that I *think* the more efficient systems (the pellet stove and the heat pump) are the more localized ones, whereas the "whole house" system (the baseboard heat) is less efficient.  We'll definitely start with everything off and see what we need to add, though.  And I'm still not clear how best to use the air exchanger, either.  I've read the manuals, but I'm struggling to understand how all the different systems fit together.

[SunnyDays]

The heat pump alone will only be useful as long as outside temps are above 0C/32F.  So I would use that until then, along with the air exchanger to keep fresh air in the house and manage humidity levels.  Once it gets colder, I would add the pellet stove to the heat pump and air exchanger and see how comfortable the house is with those.  The electric baseboards would be my last resort and only in areas where it's uncomfortbly cold.

[The Fake Cheap]

I live in New Brunswick so our winter time temps are probably going to be fairly similar.  A lot will depend on how efficient your house is, and also the layout of the house.  In my case, we have a newer house with an open concept, and had used only baseboard heaters until we got our mini split 3 years ago.  Now the mini split is used as the only heat source in the winter with the exception of the basement (where the heat is off unless we are planning to spend time there, which we don't do often).  The only time the baseboards are needed is if it gets down to about -25C, which normally only happens a few times a winter.  As for the air exchanger, is it pretty much constantly going all winter, I may shut it down overnight during a cold spell (-25C), but it stays on other than that. 

[bigblock440]

I would turn all of them off and just start with the most efficient/easiest to maintain system first. Most likely this will work for a portion of your house but not all of them. As it grows colder in areas of the house, you can turn on the more inefficient systems just to the point to bring the temperature up the rest of the way to comfortable. In essence, balance everything out using inefficient systems but doing most of the work with the most efficient system. After a bit of time, you will probably develop a feel for what is needed out of each system to keep things to your comfort level.

Thanks!  I like the sound of that.  The tricky thing is that I *think* the more efficient systems (the pellet stove and the heat pump) are the more localized ones, whereas the "whole house" system (the baseboard heat) is less efficient.  We'll definitely start with everything off and see what we need to add, though.  And I'm still not clear how best to use the air exchanger, either.  I've read the manuals, but I'm struggling to understand how all the different systems fit together.

If the baseboards are electric, they're going to be localized too, probably with a thermostat for each room.  That means you could still run the heat pump and stove, and if the other rooms get too cold, can just turn the heat on in them independent of the rest of the house.

I have no direct experience with heat exchangers, but I found this.  https://www.productcleaningsolutions.com/blog/what-is-an-air-exchanger 
Looks like it uses the heat of the air it's pumping out of the house to heat air it's pumping in.  It also seems unnecessary unless the house is well sealed.

[FLBiker]

Thanks all!

I was thinking the heat pump would be the most efficient, but that it wouldn't work well for the whole house since it's upstairs.  I like the idea of using it primarily, supplemented by the pellet, with the individualized baseboards as a last resort.  Our house is fairly new (built in the 90s) and seems well insulated / sealed.  We've got a NS efficiency inspection scheduled for next week, so I'll know a bit more then.

Thanks again for all the help!

[robartsd]

Baseboard heaters (electrical resistance heat) are easily your most expensive heat source. It is likely that your most cost effective option is to keep the living room near the maximum comfortable temperature and try to move the heat from it to cooler areas of the house trying to keep them near the minimum comfortable while minimizing use of the baseboard heaters.

[Turkey Leg]

We have electric baseboard heat in all rooms, plus a wood burning stove in the great room. That stove will heat the whole house with a box fan blowing on low behind it (at a safe distance) that distributes the heat.

If we are going to be away from the house for days, we open all interior room doors and set the baseboards to 55° F. Obviously there will not be a fire going in the wood burning stove.

If we’ll be at home, the great room and our other living room are set to 65° F. Unused rooms (mostly bedrooms) are closed off with baseboards set to 55° F.

If it’s cold enough to get the wood burning stove going, and it subsequently gets too hot inside the house, we start opening interior doors (and sometimes the patio door, too!).

I have Mysa smart baseboard thermostats for the main living areas and for the master bedroom (5 total), and I love them because I’m a nerd. They aren’t cheap, though. We have 4 other thermostats that are digital but not smart/wifi.

Can’t help you with the heat pump. Good luck!

[StashingAway]

Thanks all!

I was thinking the heat pump would be the most efficient, but that it wouldn't work well for the whole house since it's upstairs.  I like the idea of using it primarily, supplemented by the pellet, with the individualized baseboards as a last resort.  Our house is fairly new (built in the 90s) and seems well insulated / sealed.  We've got a NS efficiency inspection scheduled for next week, so I'll know a bit more then.

Thanks again for all the help!

Is the inspection going to include a blower door and thermal camera?

[Ecky]

Thanks all!

I was thinking the heat pump would be the most efficient, but that it wouldn't work well for the whole house since it's upstairs.  I like the idea of using it primarily, supplemented by the pellet, with the individualized baseboards as a last resort.  Our house is fairly new (built in the 90s) and seems well insulated / sealed.  We've got a NS efficiency inspection scheduled for next week, so I'll know a bit more then.

Thanks again for all the help!

In terms of cost effectiveness, this is the way to go.

Heat pump efficiency drops off as outside temperature drops, but some modern heat pumps can continue to pump heat as low as approximately -20F / -30C. Ours is still the most efficient source of heat even just above 0F, and we crank up the pellet stove to fill in as-needed.