Jaker788 t1_j8i084h wrote
The natural gas shortage in Europe kinda got me on a motivated fast path to delete my gas service in the PNW. First step was a hybrid electric water heater replacing my gas one, utility offered a $500 rebate on that. Next step is induction electric range. Third step is heat pump HVAC.
As much as natural gas is the new hot thing for energy and transportation, I figure with the war it may be shorter lived or stalled a bit for something better due to prices. Hopefully we can regulate production in the US as well and stop fracking so much.
SatanLifeProTips t1_j8iltq1 wrote
I’m just north of you and it was amazing how good that new heat pump is now.
Check out multi-head mini-splits too. You can zone your home and have different temperatures in different areas. And it was cheaper than one big unit of the same power.
For my shop a pair of mini-splits was not only more power efficient but it offers redundancy in case one shits the bed. Always have a backup.
For a larger zoned houses, running 2 separate smaller systems means less pipes, quieter outdoor units and better overall system efficiency.
A note about swapping a furnace to a heat pump. Heat pumps need more air flow. The heat isn’t as hot but they make more heat by volume. So that can mean redoing ducting. Sometimes adding a multi head system and programming your old furnace to just act as a fan and stir the air in the house is a possibility. Plus our furnace is now the backup in case the heat pumps go down.
Jaker788 t1_j8inpdj wrote
Yeah on the ducting and airflow front that is something I've wondered but haven't got far enough to know if I'm good or not. It's a 1,980 sq ft house with 3 bedrooms, 1 per bedroom upstairs and 2 downstairs for even coverage would probably be the move. I'd probably go central if possible but go ductless if I couldn't get the CFM with current ducting.
SatanLifeProTips t1_j8lavlw wrote
You can always keep the furnace ducting with a undersized heat pump then put in a secondary system in the bedrooms to do temperature control in those upstairs rooms. One head per room. Bedroom temperature control is so nice for quality of life. That will take the load off the central unit.
A pro can tell you more. Ask about creative solutions. Or maybe you can move enough air and it doesn’t matter.
Projectrage t1_j8igq7c wrote
Doing the same. I’m using it as an excuse to be more efficient.
krichuvisz t1_j8i0m5a wrote
Unlucky if your electric power is produced with gas.
Jaker788 t1_j8i8p85 wrote
Amazingly it's more efficient to generate electricity with a gas turbine and use an electric heat pump than to use it directly at 95% efficiency. Gas turbines are usually 60% efficient since they don't use steam turbines, they use essentially a turbojet.
But with the new generation capacity being a large portion of renewables and grid scale energy storage projects such as moss landing and others will help stabilize the capacity, it's really a short term problem. Meanwhile the electric based appliances you have will only get more efficient as the grid gets more efficient and the gas ones will stay the same.
SatanLifeProTips t1_j8im04g wrote
And they are adding green power fast. 75% of all new power builds in 2023 are renewables including a massive amount of battery storage.
Psychomadeye t1_j8i71bm wrote
Oh no, using only 20% of the gas you'd use otherwise! Literally the worst!
Splenda t1_j8imo9u wrote
>Unlucky if your electric power is produced with gas.
Not really, because it won't be for long. Gas is now a dead man walking.
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