Hi Ben, thanks for adding in the nugget of installing a heat pump water heater in MN. I am considering installing one to replace an older gas model in the unfinished basement of my 1920s home – I’m about an hour south of the Cities. It gets chilly down there – mid 40s, and I am concerned about taking some of that heat out. I don’t want to freeze any pipes. What has your experience been?

Cindi, I believe it’s about 2,500 sf. Yes, it’s in climate zone 6.

How do you get super efficient hot water from a mini-split heating system? Do you mean to say you “got” a high efficiency hot water heater as well?

Electrical outages will be more common and NO house can provide heat without electricity. Most (all??) furnaces and boilers need electricity to operate. We are installing solar batteries which will provide backup power during outages. What happened in Texas is a travesty and will happen in other areas too.

Most heat pumps installed in Minnesota include a backup source of heat — I have an 8 kW resistive heater in my air handler that can be automatically triggered by the thermostat if the heat pump can’t keep up. My unit is rated down to -5 F and this is our first fall/winter with it, but it should be a huge upgrade from my old electric heater that used up to 1.5 megawatts a month during winter.

Folks with small children and pets have solved the problem of access to a hot woodstove years ago.

@leif, you didn’t mention how much you typically pay for fuel oil, but if your marginal winter electric rate is 17 cents per kWh (i.e., excluding all fixed costs in your electric bill), a mini-split would cost roughly $1.50 to $2.00 for each therm (100,000 BTU) of heat produced (0.17 x 29.3 divided by COP, which varies with outdoor temperature). Seasonally, we can assume an average of roughly $1.75 per therm. Keep in mind you’d still need to use the Toyostove to supplement the heat pump during the coldest weather.

A gallon of heating oil produces approximately 1.39 therms of heat (139,000 BTU). Your Toyostove is rated at 92%, which works out to about 1.27 therms delivered to the house. So the break-even point for the Toyostove versus a mini-split would be about $2.22 per gallon ($1.75 x 1.27 therms per gallon). I’m curious how much you paid for fuel oil last winter…?