How well does a heat pump work in a LEED or Passive House certified home?
Really well as it happens, see a great example of a split system heatpump installation in the EdelweissLEED Platinum V4 Homebelow:
The Edelweiss House has aradiant floorto keep our feet comfortable but we rely on aMitsubishi Mr. Slim ductless mini-split air source heat pumpto heat the air of the house. This gives us air that is heated on average three times more efficiently (and three times cheaper) than had we relied on electric resistance heat in the form of baseboard heaters or our radiant floor boiler.
We also have anair-to-water hybrid electric heat pump hot water heaterthat borrows that efficiency and significantly cuts the energy required to meet our domestic hot water needs.
We could have fitted somebaseboard heaters for zone heating but they are often noisy and need fixingand we decided they wouldn't be needed.
I really don't get why a house needs two kinds of heating. If a small bunglaow in Quebec with 8'-high ceilings has in-floor heating, won't its radiant heat warm up the air as well?