3 ms·

What about the 45% efficiency of a natural gas power plant? Yes induction is efficient if you only look at the part inside your house. But most of the losses a

What about the 45% efficiency of a natural gas power plant? Yes induction is efficient if you only look at the part inside your house. But most of the losses are outside your house. If you live in a place with advanced wind or solar power like South Korea then electric probably is more efficient.

toomuchtodo 8y ago
The electric grid tilts cleaner every year. Your stove will burn natural gas forever. A combined cycle natural gas generator is upwards of 50% efficient, already more efficient than your gas stove. It's wasteful to spend money on gas infrastructure when it's clear electrical distribution is the future of home energy use. Infrastructure dollars are already in short supply. Just my two cents. EDIT: You can stockpile energy with batteries, which is the likely outcome based on how much battery manufacturing capacity is coming online to build hundreds of thousands of EVs a year (which are also a great buffer for renewables and electricity in general).
- PhantomGremlin 8y ago
  It's wasteful to spend money on gas infrastructure when it's clear electrical distribution is the future of home energy use. Maybe for cooking with a wok. But around here most homes are heated with natural gas. And that takes a lot more energy then heating chicken and vegetables. New natural gas furnaces are up to 97% efficient. They're no longer allowed to sell furnaces that are less than 78% efficient. https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/gas-furnaces/buying-guide/index.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/gas-furnaces/buying-guid...
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    You're only going to need a gas furnace (vs an efficient electric heat pump) in climates where it dips below 10F and an air or ground source heat pump would need to call on auxiliary heat to keep a dwelling warm (unless you live in a newer home with a very tight envelope and little unassisted air exchange occurs). To your point, you can purchase very efficient gas furnaces, but they're more expensive and require a retrofit of the flue pipe to PVC due to corrosive properties of high efficiency furnace exhaust (not a concern in new construction). https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/heat-pumps/buying-guide/index.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/heat-pumps/buying-guide/... Air source only heat with a heat pump is a slam dunk anywhere south of the 36°30′ parallel, and all of California. https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-state-temperatures-in-winter.php https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-state-temp...
- gwbas1c 8y ago
  We can't stockpile electricity for the winter. When days are short, demand for energy is much higher than what solar can generate. We can stockpile natural gas, which is mostly methane. And we can figure out how to make methane without fossil fuels.

toomuchtodo 8y ago

The electric grid tilts cleaner every year. Your stove will burn natural gas forever. A combined cycle natural gas generator is upwards of 50% efficient, already more efficient than your gas stove. It's wasteful to spend money on gas infrastructure when it's clear electrical distribution is the future of home energy use. Infrastructure dollars are already in short supply. Just my two cents. EDIT: You can stockpile energy with batteries, which is the likely outcome based on how much battery manufacturing capacity is coming online to build hundreds of thousands of EVs a year (which are also a great buffer for renewables and electricity in general).

PhantomGremlin 8y ago
It's wasteful to spend money on gas infrastructure when it's clear electrical distribution is the future of home energy use. Maybe for cooking with a wok. But around here most homes are heated with natural gas. And that takes a lot more energy then heating chicken and vegetables. New natural gas furnaces are up to 97% efficient. They're no longer allowed to sell furnaces that are less than 78% efficient. https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/gas-furnaces/buying-guide/index.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/gas-furnaces/buying-guid...
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  You're only going to need a gas furnace (vs an efficient electric heat pump) in climates where it dips below 10F and an air or ground source heat pump would need to call on auxiliary heat to keep a dwelling warm (unless you live in a newer home with a very tight envelope and little unassisted air exchange occurs). To your point, you can purchase very efficient gas furnaces, but they're more expensive and require a retrofit of the flue pipe to PVC due to corrosive properties of high efficiency furnace exhaust (not a concern in new construction). https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/heat-pumps/buying-guide/index.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/heat-pumps/buying-guide/... Air source only heat with a heat pump is a slam dunk anywhere south of the 36°30′ parallel, and all of California. https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-state-temperatures-in-winter.php https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-state-temp...
gwbas1c 8y ago
We can't stockpile electricity for the winter. When days are short, demand for energy is much higher than what solar can generate. We can stockpile natural gas, which is mostly methane. And we can figure out how to make methane without fossil fuels.