3 ms·

you get it replaced with an electric heat pump tied in to ground heat-mass.

by opensores 5y ago

sealeck 5y ago
And what are the odds this will be done before next winter?
- yywwbbn 5y ago
  What are the odds that enough nuclear plants for this will be opened before next winter. Maybe if 0% of imported gas was used for electricity generation non Russian sources would be sufficient for heating (just guessing)
  - danhor 5y ago
    No. Russia supplies around 47% of imported gas, around 41% of total gas. Shutting down only electricity power plants reduces gas usage by 12%. Not using it for electricity reduces it ~21% (going to be hard, because of combined electricity & heat plants). (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30480589 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30480589, all numbers for EU)
CodeGlitch 5y ago
I've not researched this - only read reports on the MSM - that installing an electric heat pump in the UK is thousands of pounds. If that's true then it's completely unrealistic for heat pumps to become mainstream anytime soon. We need to find alternative sources of natural gas, fast. Fracking may be a good choice at this point in time.
- ZeroGravitas 5y ago
  The UK government is just about to subsidize it by thousands of pounds: "Households in England and Wales to be offered new £5,000 Government grant from April 2022 to help replace gas boilers with heat pumps." Which is a long term win, as they won't need to import as much fossil fuels, and it helps meet climate targets. Any impact on Putin is merely a bonus.
- opensores 5y ago
  I really hope there will be a wave of innovation in this area. The heat pump offerings are really slim pickings in the US as well. My idea is that augmenting with heat pumps is the most sensible step for most people. Such a system might provide a portion of the heat, and could be used for smaller heat zones (eg, some downstairs living room and/or bedroom) rather than the whole building. My thought is that the advantage for augmenting is that it makes the geothermal setup much more affordable. You'll not end up needing to go super deep, or to install sophisticated insulation barriers. That way, your geothermal setup can be pretty primitive.

you get it replaced with an electric heat pump tied in to ground heat-mass.

sealeck 5y ago

And what are the odds this will be done before next winter?

yywwbbn 5y ago
What are the odds that enough nuclear plants for this will be opened before next winter. Maybe if 0% of imported gas was used for electricity generation non Russian sources would be sufficient for heating (just guessing)
- danhor 5y ago
  No. Russia supplies around 47% of imported gas, around 41% of total gas. Shutting down only electricity power plants reduces gas usage by 12%. Not using it for electricity reduces it ~21% (going to be hard, because of combined electricity & heat plants). (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30480589 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30480589, all numbers for EU)

CodeGlitch 5y ago

I've not researched this - only read reports on the MSM - that installing an electric heat pump in the UK is thousands of pounds. If that's true then it's completely unrealistic for heat pumps to become mainstream anytime soon. We need to find alternative sources of natural gas, fast. Fracking may be a good choice at this point in time.

ZeroGravitas 5y ago
The UK government is just about to subsidize it by thousands of pounds: "Households in England and Wales to be offered new £5,000 Government grant from April 2022 to help replace gas boilers with heat pumps." Which is a long term win, as they won't need to import as much fossil fuels, and it helps meet climate targets. Any impact on Putin is merely a bonus.
opensores 5y ago
I really hope there will be a wave of innovation in this area. The heat pump offerings are really slim pickings in the US as well. My idea is that augmenting with heat pumps is the most sensible step for most people. Such a system might provide a portion of the heat, and could be used for smaller heat zones (eg, some downstairs living room and/or bedroom) rather than the whole building. My thought is that the advantage for augmenting is that it makes the geothermal setup much more affordable. You'll not end up needing to go super deep, or to install sophisticated insulation barriers. That way, your geothermal setup can be pretty primitive.