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I thought electricity is much less efficient way for heating than gas - both per dollar as well as pollution outcome. Somebody has to generate all that electric
by sytelus 5y ago
I thought electricity is much less efficient way for heating than gas - both per dollar as well as pollution outcome. Somebody has to generate all that electricity from somewhere and it’s definitely neither nuclear or solar (it’s usually coal) in near future.
- throwaway0a5e 5y agoWA has a lot of cheap hydro so theoretically it's more efficient. In reality everyone who isn't of highfalutin HN levels of income is gonna fire up ye olde wood stove after their first heating bill.
- jfengel 4y agoResistance heating is inefficient, but heat pumps are actually more than 100% efficient -- as much as 300% efficient. They take heat out of the air (even air that's colder than your target temperature). You actually end up with more heat produced than energy put in. That seems bizarre, but note that heat pumps can run in reverse to pump out cold air on a hot day. That obviously doesn't engage in resistance heating at all -- that would be counter to the point. It's clearly disconnected entirely from the heat value of the electric energy. Heat pumps exist to pump energy around, which can go from cold to hot as well as hot to cold, if you apply energy to it. And because the outside air is an effectively infinite reservoir, you can get a lot of energy for free.