4 ms·

During the winter, and in storms like this, solar and wind is almost nil. Upstate NY gets very cold. And they are mandating people transition away from oil o

by starkd 4y ago

During the winter, and in storms like this, solar and wind is almost nil. Upstate NY gets very cold. And they are mandating people transition away from oil or gas into using heat pumps. Heat pumps are next to worthless in subzero weather. Oh, and they are also trying to phase out nuclear.

Scoundreller 4y ago
I think the ultimate combo will be air source heat pumps and pellet stoves. Pellet stoves should keep the insurance companies happy. Semi-renewable fuel. Semi-automated operation with minimal fire risk. Not much more expensive than nat gas, much cheaper than oil and propane, and most importantly: no nat gas network/connection/account/delivery charge.
- starkd 4y ago
  How are pellets semi-renewable? Pellets are still burned up. Are the ashes re-used?
  - epistasis 4y ago
    Pellets come from atmospheric CO2.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    Of course you re-use the ashes. Great source of potassium for the garden. The modern day fertilizer potassium-source isn’t called “potash” for nothing. Improves traction on ice, and could melt snow if it’s close enough to freezing. Could also make soap with it if you wanted to get really creative. Or bricks or mortar (or a concrete supplement).
  - dredmorbius 4y ago
    Pellets grow on^W^W are trees. Wood-pellet fuel is largely a by-product of existing forestry activity. <https://www.canr.msu.edu/wood_energy/bulk_pellets https://www.canr.msu.edu/wood_energy/bulk_pellets> In the sense that trees are a resource which regrows after harvesting, unlike mined fossil fuels,[1] wood pellets are renewable. There's reasonable concern that at quantities meaningful for replacing existing fuels, fuel-wood, including wood pellets, would not be renewable, though at what quantity that concern manifests I'm not sure. Reasonably small-scale local burning of wood on an occasional basis can be sustainable. There are significant issues with air quality especially in traditional open-hearth fireplaces. The best heating stoves are enclosed as with cast-iron stoves, masonry heaters / masonry stoves, and the like. The actual firebox is often not directly visible, air intake is directly from the outside (so that warm air isn't sucked out of the structure), and heat is radiated through thermal mass and channeling. These stoves also burn more efficiently (high temperatures and optimised airflow) greatly reducing pollution concerns with particulates. See: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater> ________________________________ Notes: 1. Note that the "fossil" in "fossil fuels" doesn't refer to petrified bone, but to things which have been dug up. "Fossil fuel" is fuel dug from the ground, as "fossil bones" are bones dug from the ground. The meanings of "turned to stone" (e.g., fossilised), or "old" (he's a fossil) are much more recently acquired meanings. <https://www.etymonline.com/word/fossil https://www.etymonline.com/word/fossil>

by starkd 4y ago

Scoundreller 4y ago

I think the ultimate combo will be air source heat pumps and pellet stoves. Pellet stoves should keep the insurance companies happy. Semi-renewable fuel. Semi-automated operation with minimal fire risk. Not much more expensive than nat gas, much cheaper than oil and propane, and most importantly: no nat gas network/connection/account/delivery charge.

starkd 4y ago
How are pellets semi-renewable? Pellets are still burned up. Are the ashes re-used?
- epistasis 4y ago
  Pellets come from atmospheric CO2.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  Of course you re-use the ashes. Great source of potassium for the garden. The modern day fertilizer potassium-source isn’t called “potash” for nothing. Improves traction on ice, and could melt snow if it’s close enough to freezing. Could also make soap with it if you wanted to get really creative. Or bricks or mortar (or a concrete supplement).
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  Pellets grow on^W^W are trees. Wood-pellet fuel is largely a by-product of existing forestry activity. <https://www.canr.msu.edu/wood_energy/bulk_pellets https://www.canr.msu.edu/wood_energy/bulk_pellets> In the sense that trees are a resource which regrows after harvesting, unlike mined fossil fuels,[1] wood pellets are renewable. There's reasonable concern that at quantities meaningful for replacing existing fuels, fuel-wood, including wood pellets, would not be renewable, though at what quantity that concern manifests I'm not sure. Reasonably small-scale local burning of wood on an occasional basis can be sustainable. There are significant issues with air quality especially in traditional open-hearth fireplaces. The best heating stoves are enclosed as with cast-iron stoves, masonry heaters / masonry stoves, and the like. The actual firebox is often not directly visible, air intake is directly from the outside (so that warm air isn't sucked out of the structure), and heat is radiated through thermal mass and channeling. These stoves also burn more efficiently (high temperatures and optimised airflow) greatly reducing pollution concerns with particulates. See: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater> ________________________________ Notes: 1. Note that the "fossil" in "fossil fuels" doesn't refer to petrified bone, but to things which have been dug up. "Fossil fuel" is fuel dug from the ground, as "fossil bones" are bones dug from the ground. The meanings of "turned to stone" (e.g., fossilised), or "old" (he's a fossil) are much more recently acquired meanings. <https://www.etymonline.com/word/fossil https://www.etymonline.com/word/fossil>