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Additionally, electricity, district heating, coal, gas and oil are getting more and more expensive due to carbon and renewable taxes. Renewables like photovolta

by corty 6y ago

Additionally, electricity, district heating, coal, gas and oil are getting more and more expensive due to carbon and renewable taxes. Renewables like photovoltaics and photothermics, along with heat pumps, are also increasing in price, because there is high demand on specialized workers for installation. The only thing that actually is getting cheaper is wood, a stove is comparatively cheap anyways (few hundred euros, compared to over 10k for anything renewable), and current climate plus tree pests cause a large amount of cheap firewood. Also, there seems to be the dogma with professional renewable planners that room temperature should not rise above 18°C. I know people where their renewable heating was dimensioned too small, who then supplement by wood stove to at least get a cozy living room in winter.

iknowstuff 6y ago
Electric heating using a heat pump or especially photovoltaics (with net metering) is cheaper than burning fossil fuels in Central Europe and completely emission free.
- corty 6y ago
  Thats completely beside the point, renewable is more expensive than wood. Also, while renewables might be cheaper in the long run, initial costs are very high. And power mix in central europe, which you feed into your heat pump, is largely coal. Photovoltaics in winter are only a very small part of the mix. Wind depends on the weather pattern, but around here cold weather usually brings calm. Winter is also dry season, so hydro is lacking as well. So your typical heat pump will be far from emission free.
girvo 6y ago
As someone who lives in South East Queensland, the idea of an 18 degree indoor temperature is absolutely wild to me haha. My aircon is set at 25 right now and even that’s a little cold
- GordonS 6y ago
  Gender and body mass play a part, but I guess it also just depends what you're used to. I live in Scotland (1C just now), and through gas central heating (very common) we have the house between 18-20C degrees, depending on how we feel. When we travel somewhere hot on vacation, and are using AC indoors, we usually have it between 20C and 21C. When I travel for business to India, the AC in offices is generally set at 25C, and I find that really unpleasantly warm, to the point where it makes me sweat (I'm not a particularly large person) and makes me sleepy.
- corty 6y ago
  Thats coming from the opposite direction. Around here, heating is necessary to get up to 18°C. Aircon to get down from warm temperatures in summer is uncommon, usually it doesn't rise above 30°C outside.

by corty 6y ago

iknowstuff 6y ago

Electric heating using a heat pump or especially photovoltaics (with net metering) is cheaper than burning fossil fuels in Central Europe and completely emission free.

corty 6y ago
Thats completely beside the point, renewable is more expensive than wood. Also, while renewables might be cheaper in the long run, initial costs are very high. And power mix in central europe, which you feed into your heat pump, is largely coal. Photovoltaics in winter are only a very small part of the mix. Wind depends on the weather pattern, but around here cold weather usually brings calm. Winter is also dry season, so hydro is lacking as well. So your typical heat pump will be far from emission free.

girvo 6y ago

As someone who lives in South East Queensland, the idea of an 18 degree indoor temperature is absolutely wild to me haha. My aircon is set at 25 right now and even that’s a little cold

GordonS 6y ago
Gender and body mass play a part, but I guess it also just depends what you're used to. I live in Scotland (1C just now), and through gas central heating (very common) we have the house between 18-20C degrees, depending on how we feel. When we travel somewhere hot on vacation, and are using AC indoors, we usually have it between 20C and 21C. When I travel for business to India, the AC in offices is generally set at 25C, and I find that really unpleasantly warm, to the point where it makes me sweat (I'm not a particularly large person) and makes me sleepy.
corty 6y ago
Thats coming from the opposite direction. Around here, heating is necessary to get up to 18°C. Aircon to get down from warm temperatures in summer is uncommon, usually it doesn't rise above 30°C outside.