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> Heat pumps heat your house much more cheaply than other types of heating, since they’re incredibly energy-efficient. So you can save money. Yes, but no. Heat

by ellisv 3y ago

> Heat pumps heat your house much more cheaply than other types of heating, since they’re incredibly energy-efficient. So you can save money. Yes, but no. Heat pumps are more efficient but generally natural gas prices are much lower than electricity prices for consumers. I should be able to save money because my utility should incentivize me to be more energy efficient and help offset the cost but they don't.

Gasp0de 3y ago
It strongly depends on the country you live in. But generally we can hope that gas is going to be more expensive than electricity in the future.
- xela79 3y ago
  no. We can hope that electricity becomes a lot cheaper than gas. a distinct difference. your phrase would mean that they just make gas more expensive, and overall heating costs just rise we should have had an abundance of electricity by now, but nuclear disasters in US, EU and JPN have really slowed that upwards trend of power source to a crawl
  - Gasp0de 3y ago
    Nuclear is way more expensive than wind or solar power so nuclear will not play any part in reducing electricity prices.
    - the_third_wave 3y ago
      Nuclear has the large advantage of being available at those cold quiet winter nights when the temperature drops below what is considered pleasant and you'd like to warm your home. Solar does not work come wintertime here in the north, wind sometimes works but often does not. If your country has the geography to allow for hydroelectric plants those are a good option which can even be used to store excess power from solar and wind, otherwise nuclear is one of the few dependable sources which do not rely on fossil fuels. Geothermal is another but that is even more geographically limited than hydroelectric.
ragebol 3y ago
For me, this was not just about cost but principally about getting of natural gas. But regardless, it also made financial sense with the prices here in the Netherlands, in the long run. It was quite an investment, but it should pay off in the end. A m3 of gas here cost (when I did the calculation in February 2022) about €1.78. That has gone up and down since then. A m3 of gas contains about 9~10 kWh of energy. Let's say 9 kWh comes out via my heated floors. That's ~€0.20/kWh. At that time, a kWh of electricity here cost about €0.39/kWh. That's double the price per kWh, if I don't take the Coefficient of Performance of our heat pump into account, which multiplies the energy output by 3 (even at -7 Celcius) to 5, depending on conditions. And I have not yet taken into account here that the energy from my solar panels is cheaper than buying it from the grid. At the moment, prices are better (install was in March after a year-long wait) and in the meanwhile also got a dynamic energy tariff with lower prices on average, so the comparison is harder to make ATM. We haven't had both a for a full winter yet, so we'll see.

by ellisv 3y ago

Gasp0de 3y ago

It strongly depends on the country you live in. But generally we can hope that gas is going to be more expensive than electricity in the future.

xela79 3y ago
no. We can hope that electricity becomes a lot cheaper than gas. a distinct difference. your phrase would mean that they just make gas more expensive, and overall heating costs just rise we should have had an abundance of electricity by now, but nuclear disasters in US, EU and JPN have really slowed that upwards trend of power source to a crawl
- Gasp0de 3y ago
  Nuclear is way more expensive than wind or solar power so nuclear will not play any part in reducing electricity prices.
  - the_third_wave 3y ago
    Nuclear has the large advantage of being available at those cold quiet winter nights when the temperature drops below what is considered pleasant and you'd like to warm your home. Solar does not work come wintertime here in the north, wind sometimes works but often does not. If your country has the geography to allow for hydroelectric plants those are a good option which can even be used to store excess power from solar and wind, otherwise nuclear is one of the few dependable sources which do not rely on fossil fuels. Geothermal is another but that is even more geographically limited than hydroelectric.

ragebol 3y ago

For me, this was not just about cost but principally about getting of natural gas. But regardless, it also made financial sense with the prices here in the Netherlands, in the long run. It was quite an investment, but it should pay off in the end. A m3 of gas here cost (when I did the calculation in February 2022) about €1.78. That has gone up and down since then. A m3 of gas contains about 9~10 kWh of energy. Let's say 9 kWh comes out via my heated floors. That's ~€0.20/kWh. At that time, a kWh of electricity here cost about €0.39/kWh. That's double the price per kWh, if I don't take the Coefficient of Performance of our heat pump into account, which multiplies the energy output by 3 (even at -7 Celcius) to 5, depending on conditions. And I have not yet taken into account here that the energy from my solar panels is cheaper than buying it from the grid. At the moment, prices are better (install was in March after a year-long wait) and in the meanwhile also got a dynamic energy tariff with lower prices on average, so the comparison is harder to make ATM. We haven't had both a for a full winter yet, so we'll see.