Mark

So far just dealers going to school on this high eff HP.

I have yet to see any anecdotal stories of new installs on this system. I really think the promise though is more on the heating side especially for those on propane and oil heat.

IMO

I have seen a presentation with data collected for the Greenspeed Infinity heat pump. It's quite impressive to say the least. It includes the electrical bill and consumption for a home that has had it installed for 1-winter as follows. Size of the system was not mentioned oddly enough. I would assume it is a 2-ton system.

Aug. 25, 2010 to May 11, 2011, 269-days, 8,370kWh @ 8.34cents/kWh = $698 w/Tx - TOTAL, heating, lights, hot water etc included.

This was for a 950sq ft (very small!) bungalow built in 1969 with 2-occupants. It is located north of Montreal where heating is required for 70% of the year. Our winters are COLD! Below 0 degrees F is not uncommon. We have over 400-hrs/yr of below 0 degrees F temperatures in our region and even more so where this home is located, according to regional BIN data. According to Carrier, the balance point for a 3-ton Greenspeed (this sounds small to me) installed in a 3000sq ft cottage is about 5 degrees F.

For the Canadian winter climate Greenspeed is rated at 44% more efficient than the Mitsubishi Zuba. In cooling mode it's rated at 27% more efficient than the Zuba. Rating (on this slide) was by ecoENERGY, which is a Canadian federal government agency.

The data collected in the presentation got quite interesting when the cost of oil heating was compared with geothermal, 2-stage Infinity and Infinity Greenspeed. Greenspeed was 5% less efficient than geothermal, but 12% more efficient than the Infinity 2-stage and 79% more efficient than an oil furnace (efficiency not mentioned).

When compared to an all electric system, Greenspeed was 8% less efficient than geothermal but 20% more efficient than the 2-speed Infinity heat pump and 66% more efficient than an electric furnace with no HP.

These last 2-senarios (oil & electric furnaces) were represented in dollars only. The 25-slide presentation contained 23-slides of graphs charts & tables. It was prepared by Carrier Canada and was in French only, however 1-slide comparing the Infinity Greenspeed to the Mitsubishi Zuba with all technical data was referenced to the American Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) so that there should be credibility in the numbers.

Hope this helps...

SR

We installed our first one this week! The unit is awesome, installation was very easy and it helps the installers have everything 100% correct when it is fired up!
The unit makes a couple of new noises, but the efficency of the unit is the true selling point! It will change the way Heat Pumps are looked at!
If you would like any pictures of the one installed email me!

Anyone installed one with zoning (assuming that is available) ?

I not only have had one installed at my house, but I am also the installing company. As well, I also have Carrier Infinity Zoning in my home. I would be happy to help any one with questions. See link to my contact info, email is best, but call if you would like.

Here is a link that might be useful: Contact Information - Greenspeed Owner, Installer, User

Save your money, There are better options.
The carrier infinity with green-speed might be a good machine at keeping the indoor temperatures steady, but its not going to do what it promise, it will not keep you comfortable better than other machines.
The System is pretty bad at keeping the humidity low (i obviously lives in a humid state)and while "trying" to lower humidity it will freeze you (by quickly lowering the temp. 2-3 degrees bellow your comfort level)the effect is similar to going in and out from a restaurant walk-in freezer.
if you bothered by humidity, you might want to consider whole house dehumidifier, if matched with other good system(without the complexities), it will cost less and work better than the carrier infinity with green-speed. the system have some nice features but none worth the cost and all delivers less than advertised.
since its a new machine, the company who sells and installs it have no experience with its complexities or capabilities and relies on Carrier's exaggerated claims. Carrier itself have little experience with the system and seems stump and unable to help the company that install it, who, by the way, consider the best a/c company in my area, and is NOT cheap. I read many reviews about the system prior to making the decision to buy it but non were from homeowners, they were all from pros who admired the system complexity and claimed abilities.
DON'T BUY IT OR GET A VERY GOOD GUARANTIES.

Well, I find it a fabulous system. The fact it does not have to blow 100 percent when heating or cooling but ramps continuously between 40% and 100% really Does eliminate drafts. It can keep set point without large swings past and below. When it's On, it's On longer so you have air circulation but usually barely perceptible. A steady but low air circulation helps address cold and hot spots.

Oh yeah and its outdoor half is Super quiet, so even if the evaporator is by a window you can barely hear it except when its on full blast which is rare and even then it's much quieter than any unit I have ever had.

Because this thing can smoothly operate at so many different speeds it is ideal in a zoned home. Mine has four. That is, you don't need a recycle loop to keep full blast airflow over the coil when only serving one or two zones. The unit just cranks down to slower speed, capacity.

Oh yeah and it's Super efficient. There's that!

"Well, I find it a fabulous system. The fact it does not have to blow 100 percent when heating or cooling but ramps continuously between 40% and 100% really Does eliminate drafts. It can keep set point without large swings past and below. When it's On, it's On longer so you have air circulation but usually barely perceptible. A steady but low air circulation helps address cold and hot spots. "

Sounds like (my) modulating furnace.

What kind of outlet temperatures would one expect, over the range?

V

We installed our Greenspeed in October and have been very satisfied. The outside unit is amazingly quiet. It is installed by our deck and I never know it's on unless I look at the spinning fan blade. I can be next to the unit and can carry on a normal conversation.

As far as efficient, we just looked at our last bi-monthly electric bill and compared Nov/Dec's usage to 2011 and we used slightly more kw hours than last year BUT I don't have my $400/month oil heating bill.

My wife keeps the temp at 72 during the day and 60 from 11pm to 5am. She's happy and so am I.

The unit is paying for itself!

You use a 12F setback with a heat pump? Not a good energy strategy. You should only setback 2-3F just for comfort sleeping at night. Otherwise you end up using the heat strips to recover.

You are probably using 10-20% more energy using setbacks with a heat pump than just leaving it the same temrpature.