3 ms·

Pardon me for being out of the loop (I am not yet a homeowner and things like this are beyond me for the moment): Is there a reason heat pumps are now more rel

by nlh 3y ago

Pardon me for being out of the loop (I am not yet a homeowner and things like this are beyond me for the moment): Is there a reason heat pumps are now more relevant? Has there been a technological innovation here? Is this new technology? (I'm asking this genuinely - not with snark). I feel like I've read/heard about heat pumps a lot more recently and I'm wondering why. Many thanks in advance!

hef19898 3y ago
Heat pumps exist for quite a while. The reason ypu hear about them is climate change, all alternatives, from gas to oil, burn fussil fuels. That discussion was pushed by the war in Ukraine and, lately, a highly populized, and polarized, debate in Germany. The only alternative being equally good for the climate is using excess heat from industrial plants, e.g. those burning garbage. Up to know, at least in Germany, gas was just unbeatably cheap for heating houses. That's gonna change.
dml2135 3y ago
Two reasons. One, yes they have gotten more efficient, and depending on your local climate, are now possibly the most efficient method for heating your home. Two, the switch to renewable energy is resulting in a push for the “electrification of everything”. Getting home appliances that previously burned fossil fuels onto the electric grid enables emissions-free methods of power generation to be used in the future, even if they are not in use yet. And even with fossil-fuel burning power plants, they have an economy of scale much greater than the furnace in your home. So using electricity generated at a fossil-fuel burning power plant to power your heat pump will still result in less emissions than burning that fuel for heat directly in your home.
Gasp0de 3y ago
Fossil fuels should not be used to create heat anymore due to climate change. People are becoming more aware of that currently (especially in Europe) which is why heatpumps are a hot topic.
- hef19898 3y ago
  Thinking of it, heat pumps have one added benefit: energy storage. Heating is using water reservoirs, one for hot water and one for heating of the building. This hot water can be produced whenever you want, those reservoirs hold temperature quite well. A lot of heat pumps can use excess renewables, and store that energy in the for heat. Heat that is needed as heat anyways.
  - Gasp0de 3y ago
    Yes, heat storage is a bit simpler than electricity storage so it can be used that way. In Europe, the power grid operators can often remotely shut down your heatpump (if you have opted into this in exchange for a cheaper electricity price) so you have to store 1-2 hours of heat.
    - hef19898 3y ago
      Our gas system is producing hot water twice per day, scheduled, and heat three times, also scheduled. Having those time windows, partially, remote controlled would be already now totally doable and we wouldn't see any difference in real life.
Glench 3y ago
The big one is that we need to decarbonize building heating and cooling as soon as we possibly can (like, by 2030) in order to avoid disastrous climate scenarios. Heat pumps run off electricity, which is starting to be decarbonized rapidly, and heat pumps are also battle-tested solutions that many countries already use so they are the main technology to get off coal, oil, gas, etc for cooling and heating. Last year, the US passed the Inflation Reduction Act which created a ton of consumer and industry incentives to manufacture and deploy heat pumps, which created a lot of interest. Additionally, Russia's war in Ukraine made it clear to many countries that they didn't want their energy security dependent on an aggressive nation, so lots of European nations rallied to install heat pumps amid a possible gas shortage from Russia. One cool thing about heat pumps is that they run more than 100% efficient. This is because they move energy around instead of generating it. Working in good conditions, most units these days will run around 300% efficient. It really depends on your specific home, electricity prices, region, etc whether this efficiency results in savings on bills, though. Many older generation heat pumps didn't work as well in colder climates, but now that's not as much of an issue. I believe I saw that one of the US states with the fastest recent heat pump adoption is Maine, and Norway has a very high heat pump adoption as well.
vizzah 3y ago
I am also surprised why they are suddenly everywhere, when most A/C brands installed in Europe (including mine) already have heat pumps built-in. What I am missing?

by nlh 3y ago

hef19898 3y ago

Heat pumps exist for quite a while. The reason ypu hear about them is climate change, all alternatives, from gas to oil, burn fussil fuels. That discussion was pushed by the war in Ukraine and, lately, a highly populized, and polarized, debate in Germany. The only alternative being equally good for the climate is using excess heat from industrial plants, e.g. those burning garbage. Up to know, at least in Germany, gas was just unbeatably cheap for heating houses. That's gonna change.

dml2135 3y ago

Two reasons. One, yes they have gotten more efficient, and depending on your local climate, are now possibly the most efficient method for heating your home. Two, the switch to renewable energy is resulting in a push for the “electrification of everything”. Getting home appliances that previously burned fossil fuels onto the electric grid enables emissions-free methods of power generation to be used in the future, even if they are not in use yet. And even with fossil-fuel burning power plants, they have an economy of scale much greater than the furnace in your home. So using electricity generated at a fossil-fuel burning power plant to power your heat pump will still result in less emissions than burning that fuel for heat directly in your home.

Gasp0de 3y ago

Fossil fuels should not be used to create heat anymore due to climate change. People are becoming more aware of that currently (especially in Europe) which is why heatpumps are a hot topic.

hef19898 3y ago
Thinking of it, heat pumps have one added benefit: energy storage. Heating is using water reservoirs, one for hot water and one for heating of the building. This hot water can be produced whenever you want, those reservoirs hold temperature quite well. A lot of heat pumps can use excess renewables, and store that energy in the for heat. Heat that is needed as heat anyways.
- Gasp0de 3y ago
  Yes, heat storage is a bit simpler than electricity storage so it can be used that way. In Europe, the power grid operators can often remotely shut down your heatpump (if you have opted into this in exchange for a cheaper electricity price) so you have to store 1-2 hours of heat.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    Our gas system is producing hot water twice per day, scheduled, and heat three times, also scheduled. Having those time windows, partially, remote controlled would be already now totally doable and we wouldn't see any difference in real life.

Glench 3y ago

The big one is that we need to decarbonize building heating and cooling as soon as we possibly can (like, by 2030) in order to avoid disastrous climate scenarios. Heat pumps run off electricity, which is starting to be decarbonized rapidly, and heat pumps are also battle-tested solutions that many countries already use so they are the main technology to get off coal, oil, gas, etc for cooling and heating. Last year, the US passed the Inflation Reduction Act which created a ton of consumer and industry incentives to manufacture and deploy heat pumps, which created a lot of interest. Additionally, Russia's war in Ukraine made it clear to many countries that they didn't want their energy security dependent on an aggressive nation, so lots of European nations rallied to install heat pumps amid a possible gas shortage from Russia. One cool thing about heat pumps is that they run more than 100% efficient. This is because they move energy around instead of generating it. Working in good conditions, most units these days will run around 300% efficient. It really depends on your specific home, electricity prices, region, etc whether this efficiency results in savings on bills, though. Many older generation heat pumps didn't work as well in colder climates, but now that's not as much of an issue. I believe I saw that one of the US states with the fastest recent heat pump adoption is Maine, and Norway has a very high heat pump adoption as well.

vizzah 3y ago

I am also surprised why they are suddenly everywhere, when most A/C brands installed in Europe (including mine) already have heat pumps built-in. What I am missing?