3 ms·

Transport and storage costs would very likely negate most of the advantages. For commercial, in-factory use, they probably would be suitable. For domestic use,

Transport and storage costs would very likely negate most of the advantages. For commercial, in-factory use, they probably would be suitable. For domestic use, not so much.

mdp2021 5y ago
People do buy wooden pellets and logs for domestic heating. And on the other hand, of fixed infrastructure (pipeline) distribution: how much does one pay in the bill for infrastructural costs (maintenance, administration etc.) and how much for the combustion material itself? The infrastructural costs can be an important component of the total - sometimes overwhelming. So: you really need the numbers to crunch a balance - energy does not reach your heat exchange terminals for free anyway.
- simonblack 5y ago
  The weight and size of the batteries described pretty much means that only one, maybe two, batteries could be transported on a truck from the factory where the excess heat is being produced to the house where the battery will be used temporarily. That battery then needs to be collected and transported all the way back to the factory for 'reheating'. That's not a cheap process. One battery: four factory-house trips involved. ( = 2 return trips from the factory to a house for a largish haulage truck) That's why I said that it probably would not be cost-effective for use in a domestic situation. On the other hand, the industrial use of these batteries would be efficient and cheap. The only transport required would be short-distance, in-house, and could be further cheapened by the use of rails and being pulled by electric haulers round and round the factory.
  - mdp2021 5y ago
    With further scaling of the batteries, more possibilities may open. They could be used for the heating of transport vehicles - which is not trivial, because it is easy to heat a running vehicle but not fully practical to heat a stationary one, because of the pollutants produced in close proximity. They could become portable heaters.

Transport and storage costs would very likely negate most of the advantages. For commercial, in-factory use, they probably would be suitable. For domestic use, not so much.

mdp2021 5y ago

People do buy wooden pellets and logs for domestic heating. And on the other hand, of fixed infrastructure (pipeline) distribution: how much does one pay in the bill for infrastructural costs (maintenance, administration etc.) and how much for the combustion material itself? The infrastructural costs can be an important component of the total - sometimes overwhelming. So: you really need the numbers to crunch a balance - energy does not reach your heat exchange terminals for free anyway.

simonblack 5y ago
The weight and size of the batteries described pretty much means that only one, maybe two, batteries could be transported on a truck from the factory where the excess heat is being produced to the house where the battery will be used temporarily. That battery then needs to be collected and transported all the way back to the factory for 'reheating'. That's not a cheap process. One battery: four factory-house trips involved. ( = 2 return trips from the factory to a house for a largish haulage truck) That's why I said that it probably would not be cost-effective for use in a domestic situation. On the other hand, the industrial use of these batteries would be efficient and cheap. The only transport required would be short-distance, in-house, and could be further cheapened by the use of rails and being pulled by electric haulers round and round the factory.
- mdp2021 5y ago
  With further scaling of the batteries, more possibilities may open. They could be used for the heating of transport vehicles - which is not trivial, because it is easy to heat a running vehicle but not fully practical to heat a stationary one, because of the pollutants produced in close proximity. They could become portable heaters.