4 ms·
Yes, even the most efficient natural gas plants aren't going to come close to the efficiency of a modern condensing gas water heater. For the water heater it's
by MertsA 5y ago
Yes, even the most efficient natural gas plants aren't going to come close to the efficiency of a modern condensing gas water heater. For the water heater it's just a matter of a single heat exchange process from the exhaust to the water. For a combined cycle power plant you're dealing with a gas turbine and boiling water to run additional steam turbines but in the end converting heat into mechanical energy is not tremendously efficient.
Figure on the order of 60% efficient for the best natural gas power plants vs. 95% efficient for a condensing gas water heater. Not to mention the drastic reduction in expensive electrical infrastructure, the power plant, etc.
- tacLog 5y agoThank you, I was not aware that natural gas generation was so inefficient. I wonder how from a pure greenhouse gasses perspective, the numbers stack up. I know that leaked methane is much worse than CO2. 28x according to [1] This source [2] says that the grid looses: 2% - 5% of gas between provider and consumer. Even assuming that your grid is 90% just gas plants stil. 30% loss at the power plant, 5% loss from electrical grid. So for every unit of water heated you are wasting 35% of the energy. Vs say 2% loss in the natural gas grid. but that 2% is 28x worse than burned CO2. Am I completely wrong in saying that from a pure this hurts the planet more electric based water heaters often probably still win? [1] https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warmin... [2] https://pubs.naruc.org/pub/FA86BB52-AE3F-D8AC-B295-801BD6DC6435 https://pubs.naruc.org/pub/FA86BB52-AE3F-D8AC-B295-801BD6DC6...