3 ms·

Could Europe even use electricity to heat? I assumed the gas was mostly being used directly in gas furnaces. Heat pumps are only just getting to where they can

Could Europe even use electricity to heat? I assumed the gas was mostly being used directly in gas furnaces. Heat pumps are only just getting to where they can work in extreme cold right?

mmaurizi 4y ago
Being able to shut down existing gas power plants should free up a lot of gas for home heating.
- 29083011397778 4y ago
  Heat pumps are between 2 (worst case scenario) and 5 times more efficient for heating than burning the natural gas directly - and that includes transmission and generation losses. Unless natural gas, due to the reduced demand, falls to between 20 and 50% of the price of electricity, heat pumps are still cheaper long-term - and provide AC in the summer!
brtkdotse 4y ago
At least in Sweden the vast majority of single family homes are heated via geothermal/air-to-water heat pumps (which run on electricity)
wbl 4y ago
We can make more heat pumps and Europe is pretty warm compared to the Midwest in winter.
- galangalalgol 4y ago
  But making and installing a significant number of them before winter temperatures hit seems extremely hard.
Manuel_D 4y ago
France uses electricity for most of its heating, thanks to it's extensive nuclear power.
thehappypm 4y ago
The gold standard is Mitsubishi’s Hyper Heat, which operates efficiently down to -17F, and below that the BTUs are reduced. However to think about it in the simplest way.. a cheapo space heater in every room is a crude way to do electric heat, that anyone “can” do.
belorn 4y ago
There are already plans being made for next winter, where if the shortage of power hit expected levels then some places in northern Europe will have to be disconnected from the grid in order to save the grid as a whole. It is times like that when government will borrow or even print money in order to fix the situation regardless of how expensive the answer is. The average operational cost of a nuclear power in the US is around 2.5 cent to 3.4 cent per kw/h, which is still higher than many other energy sources. The spot price in some locations in Europe is feared to reach $1 per kw/h this winter. Gas furnaces are part of the problem, but society is dependent on electricity for basic function. Voters only accept limited amount of pain before forcing governments to take action and bail people out.

Could Europe even use electricity to heat? I assumed the gas was mostly being used directly in gas furnaces. Heat pumps are only just getting to where they can work in extreme cold right?

mmaurizi 4y ago

Being able to shut down existing gas power plants should free up a lot of gas for home heating.

29083011397778 4y ago
Heat pumps are between 2 (worst case scenario) and 5 times more efficient for heating than burning the natural gas directly - and that includes transmission and generation losses. Unless natural gas, due to the reduced demand, falls to between 20 and 50% of the price of electricity, heat pumps are still cheaper long-term - and provide AC in the summer!

brtkdotse 4y ago

At least in Sweden the vast majority of single family homes are heated via geothermal/air-to-water heat pumps (which run on electricity)

wbl 4y ago

We can make more heat pumps and Europe is pretty warm compared to the Midwest in winter.

galangalalgol 4y ago
But making and installing a significant number of them before winter temperatures hit seems extremely hard.

Manuel_D 4y ago

France uses electricity for most of its heating, thanks to it's extensive nuclear power.

thehappypm 4y ago

The gold standard is Mitsubishi’s Hyper Heat, which operates efficiently down to -17F, and below that the BTUs are reduced. However to think about it in the simplest way.. a cheapo space heater in every room is a crude way to do electric heat, that anyone “can” do.

belorn 4y ago

There are already plans being made for next winter, where if the shortage of power hit expected levels then some places in northern Europe will have to be disconnected from the grid in order to save the grid as a whole. It is times like that when government will borrow or even print money in order to fix the situation regardless of how expensive the answer is. The average operational cost of a nuclear power in the US is around 2.5 cent to 3.4 cent per kw/h, which is still higher than many other energy sources. The spot price in some locations in Europe is feared to reach $1 per kw/h this winter. Gas furnaces are part of the problem, but society is dependent on electricity for basic function. Voters only accept limited amount of pain before forcing governments to take action and bail people out.