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Heat pumps could actually lead to a net increase in energy usage in northern areas because they can double as air conditioners for cooling in the summer. Normal

Heat pumps could actually lead to a net increase in energy usage in northern areas because they can double as air conditioners for cooling in the summer. Normally homes in northern areas don't have AC and you just have to get through the relative short period when its hot enough that it would be nice to have. But with heat pumps, you just switch to AC mode. Also, those periods of hot weather are getting hotter and longer in duration.

eutectic 3y ago
But demand is lower in the summer, so this shouldn't effect renewable energy requirements.
- jwestbury 3y ago
  This is regionally specific. The US south, for instance, sees higher usage in summer due to air conditioning demand.
  - infecto 3y ago
    The whole premise for the original parent comment was talking about Northern regions. So yes, this whole thread is regionally specific. Talking about the south is silly because in most of the southern US it is near unlivable with humidity to go without A/C.
  - notyourwork 3y ago
    That has little to nothing to do with heat pumps does it?
- Eddy_Viscosity2 3y ago
  This is a good point, summer time could potentially use solar.
  - Ekaros 3y ago
    And with sensible planning like overcooling during day-time. It could actually utilize the production effectively. Too hot nights are still relatively rare.
acdha 3y ago
> Also, those periods of hot weather are getting hotter and longer in duration. This is why I’d characterize it as potentially earlier use of AC: we’re already seeing many people who didn’t previously need it buying ACs so the greater efficiency of most heat pumps is going to be welcome as that trend accelerates. I live in the mid-Atlantic region and our heat pump system lowered our annual electricity consumption even though we got rid of a gas heater because the savings over our old AC in the summer outweighed our increased winter demand (obviously the numbers in winter are worst for more extreme climates but recent years have really brought significant efficiency improvements vs. older AC designs). The other thing to remember is that summer is the easiest problem: the times when you need it also tend to be when solar is producing well and that’s cheap and easy to deploy. Winter is much harder because its demand has less sunlight and often coincides with cloudy weather.
deleted 3y ago
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Ynottingten 3y ago
Thats a no brainer. If the sun shines a lot, we will have a lot of energy we can consume through an AC. Overall a heatpump will lead to a 2-4 times net energy reduction. Your normal car can use 30-40% of the energy in gasoline. We could just make energy out of it, use the process energy and drive a heat pump and we will be above 1 kWh from 1 kWh of gasoline energy.

eutectic 3y ago

But demand is lower in the summer, so this shouldn't effect renewable energy requirements.

jwestbury 3y ago
This is regionally specific. The US south, for instance, sees higher usage in summer due to air conditioning demand.
- infecto 3y ago
  The whole premise for the original parent comment was talking about Northern regions. So yes, this whole thread is regionally specific. Talking about the south is silly because in most of the southern US it is near unlivable with humidity to go without A/C.
- notyourwork 3y ago
  That has little to nothing to do with heat pumps does it?
Eddy_Viscosity2 3y ago
This is a good point, summer time could potentially use solar.
- Ekaros 3y ago
  And with sensible planning like overcooling during day-time. It could actually utilize the production effectively. Too hot nights are still relatively rare.

acdha 3y ago

> Also, those periods of hot weather are getting hotter and longer in duration. This is why I’d characterize it as potentially earlier use of AC: we’re already seeing many people who didn’t previously need it buying ACs so the greater efficiency of most heat pumps is going to be welcome as that trend accelerates. I live in the mid-Atlantic region and our heat pump system lowered our annual electricity consumption even though we got rid of a gas heater because the savings over our old AC in the summer outweighed our increased winter demand (obviously the numbers in winter are worst for more extreme climates but recent years have really brought significant efficiency improvements vs. older AC designs). The other thing to remember is that summer is the easiest problem: the times when you need it also tend to be when solar is producing well and that’s cheap and easy to deploy. Winter is much harder because its demand has less sunlight and often coincides with cloudy weather.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Ynottingten 3y ago

Thats a no brainer. If the sun shines a lot, we will have a lot of energy we can consume through an AC. Overall a heatpump will lead to a 2-4 times net energy reduction. Your normal car can use 30-40% of the energy in gasoline. We could just make energy out of it, use the process energy and drive a heat pump and we will be above 1 kWh from 1 kWh of gasoline energy.