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The incentives are encouraging people in trades to learn about how to set-up such pumps and encourage their clients to get one. That sounds like it’s working as

by bertil 5y ago

The incentives are encouraging people in trades to learn about how to set-up such pumps and encourage their clients to get one. That sounds like it’s working as intended.

sokoloff 5y ago
That's a fair point! By the time it gets to the end user's financials though, a modern gas boiler still ends up being far more attractive economically (in the land of $0.20/kWh electricity), which undermines the pace of the transition.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  When the air-source heat pump is coupled to a good size PV array, the attractiveness equation starts to look a little different. You are never going to generate your own gas; even if you can't generate all the electricity you need for heating, you can generate a notable chunk of it (and banking summer-time excess generation can reduce your heating bills to close to zero).
  - syshum 5y ago
    Not every lot, or every location is good for PV, further lots of utilities are working very hard to make net-metering very unattractive. They do not want to pay home owners Retail prices for electricity (and I do not blame them)
    - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
      Note: the common use of net-metering tends to involve paying the property owner cash in return for excess production, and this is definitely facing opposition. However, there are sometimes (often?) alternatives in which the utility banks excess production and trades it during times of low production on a 1:1 basis. I have not read that this sort of scheme faces the same sort of opposition from utilities (and some legislators) as "cash for kW".
      - hedora 5y ago
        Some states allow for community net metering, where your neighborhood goes in on some solar/batteries, and the production counts toward everyone's bill. This is great for apartment dwellers / condos / low income areas, because you can structure the finances of the initial investment to look a lot like having the individual/business installing the equipment being paid retail for the surplus power.

by bertil 5y ago

The incentives are encouraging people in trades to learn about how to set-up such pumps and encourage their clients to get one. That sounds like it’s working as intended.

sokoloff 5y ago

That's a fair point! By the time it gets to the end user's financials though, a modern gas boiler still ends up being far more attractive economically (in the land of $0.20/kWh electricity), which undermines the pace of the transition.

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
When the air-source heat pump is coupled to a good size PV array, the attractiveness equation starts to look a little different. You are never going to generate your own gas; even if you can't generate all the electricity you need for heating, you can generate a notable chunk of it (and banking summer-time excess generation can reduce your heating bills to close to zero).
- syshum 5y ago
  Not every lot, or every location is good for PV, further lots of utilities are working very hard to make net-metering very unattractive. They do not want to pay home owners Retail prices for electricity (and I do not blame them)
  - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
    Note: the common use of net-metering tends to involve paying the property owner cash in return for excess production, and this is definitely facing opposition. However, there are sometimes (often?) alternatives in which the utility banks excess production and trades it during times of low production on a 1:1 basis. I have not read that this sort of scheme faces the same sort of opposition from utilities (and some legislators) as "cash for kW".
    - hedora 5y ago
      Some states allow for community net metering, where your neighborhood goes in on some solar/batteries, and the production counts toward everyone's bill. This is great for apartment dwellers / condos / low income areas, because you can structure the finances of the initial investment to look a lot like having the individual/business installing the equipment being paid retail for the surplus power.