Anyone know a lot about heat pumps?

[ACE]

The new heat air-to-air pumps are very good, most have them in Sweden. I've had mine for 15 years, with fill up of refrigerant (R410) once after 7 years, they tend to lose at number of percent every year.
The newest have much better performance below freeze point than the older, and are more quiet.

That sounds pretty neat. My unit is a Rheem maintained very well. Even change the capacitors once a year (their $5-10) still went through 2 X-13 blower motors notorious for going bad, and it’s now developed a leak in the Evap coil (heat pump 410A). I’m just gonna let it ride til the compressor finally goes out once it does I’ll have a Goodman sitting in its place or Daiken whichever is cheaper to be honest. Get the same if not more life out of it. If we had Natural Gas out here where I lived we would be in a Furnace. They are just better for the heating.

[Shuffler]

The new heat air-to-air pumps are very good, most have them in Sweden. I've had mine for 15 years, with fill up of refrigerant (R410) once after 7 years, they tend to lose at number of percent every year.
The newest have much better performance below freeze point than the older, and are more quiet.

Very quiet. You never know when ours is running. The fans ramp up and down. No.more just off and on. Even the outside unit is very quiet. Many of the new units have the 4 inch filter in the attic unit too.... very nice.

[TequilaChaser]

 They have variable speed blower motors &/or Condenser Fan motors, Shuffler...

save, your HVAC system should not be leaking any refrigerant at all, regardless if it is R-12, R-22, R-134A, R-410A, etc.....

I installed the Trane Heat pump system in my parent's house in May 15th, 1994 and it has never had any refrigerant added to it to this day..only needing changed out the contacter twice and a combo-capacitor once...at the time of installation I installed a "whole-house" surge protector along with separate surge protectors each on the Air Handler and Heat Pump Condenser...as well as a whole house Side-mounted Duct Humidifier, (2) Bioclimatic Ionization Air purifiers, Commercial grade electronic Air Filter backed up by a Spacegard model 2200 6" thick pleated filter...a 7 day /4 times a day programmable thermostat.....

With that being said/done... A heat pump is not and was not ever designed to "HEAT" a home, dwelling or business... Heat pumps were designed to "MAINTAIN" the heat in a home, dwelling or business...

As for whether to leave a heat pump thermostat at a constant setting verses lowering it while one is away from home then raise it once they have returned home... One would do better to leave their thermostat at a constant setting...

As to closing off supply & return vents to a room or section of the dwelling would only cause one undue energy consumption, because this allows the cold to overcome the perimeter and allows the cooler air to reach further interior walls/doors...this applies to both the heating and cooling seasons

As for water-heaters that can also heat homes...these systems  have been around for over 30+ years, and have only gotten better with efficiency...as have water source & geothermal heat pumps

As for those that use gas furnaces (natural or propane) are ideally suited for programmable thermostats, same goes for oil furnaces (and for those that have Electric Heatstrip furnaces)

Back to those that have to add refrigerant to their AC or Heat pump Condensers... Regardless if you are talking about a freezer, refrigerator, vehicle A/Cs, residential/commercial/industrial cooling systems using any type of refrigerants...all these different type of systems are what are considered as "closed-loop" systems designed to never needing refrigerant refilling, topping off, etc... Once installed and initially started up and refrigerant charge checked accordingly....if jt is found to be low on refrigerant, then a HVAC&R Service Tech is allowed to top off the system if it is less/lower than the allotted amount allowed by law/code and should be scheduled for a follow-up service check to see if it has leaked down any given amount...if it has a leak check must be done and solutions on what to do at this time should be discussed...

I'll stop for now and read up on replies

Hope this was of some hel8

TC

[Shuffler]

I am fully aware of the blower motors.

I really like our system and I set it up to work with our smart home. Nice to be able to check it from anywhere. It will also alert if there is any issues.

[ACE]

I am fully aware of the blower motors.

I really like our system and I set it up to work with our smart home. Nice to be able to check it from anywhere. It will also alert if there is any issues.

May I ask what you use for smart home?  That’s something I’m going to do when I finally build my own place.

[Shuffler]

May I ask what you use for smart home?  That’s something I’m going to do when I finally build my own place.

Google home is the base. You can use several different setups. I chose google.

All my lights in my home are voice controlled and will do 16 mil plus colors (Lifx). My ceiling fans are all remote and connect to the system through Bond. My TVs and kitchen appliances are all LG and connect through ThinQ. Washer and Dryer also LG connect through ThinQ. Roomba i7+ connects direct. Daikin HVAC connects through Honeywell TCC. The garage door is controlled by myQ (I know whenever it is opening or closing and current status.. no matter where I am). All of this connects to our google home.

Most all is controlled by voice.

Cool things to do... if you are expecting friends over after work, and you are still at work, have the fridge make extra ice and have roomba clean the entry, reading room, living room, and guest bath.