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giabollc t1_j33ha5b wrote

At the current electric rates it doesn’t make sense for me to install a heat pump. I’ll keep on burning wood.

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[deleted] t1_j33ryl0 wrote

maybe this will turn people to solar. :( the increased demand will probably raise prices.

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modernhomeowner t1_j33wufj wrote

The hard part is Net Metering. In our northern state, you make most of your solar in summer, but with a heat pump, most of your use is in Winter. This will continue to raise winter electric rates. When you net meter, you gain the dollar value of the electricity in summer, but then have to pay the actual cost in Winter. Currently, with National Grid, The summer rate (minus the MassSave, since MassSave won't give you credits), was 22¢, and the winter is near 48¢, meaning you pay the grid (plus MassSave) 26¢ for power in winter, plus your cost of solar, depending on financing and such anywhere from 10-20¢, we'll use my personal 13¢ for my panels over 25 years, and you've paid 39¢ for electricity in winter, which is still higher than nearly any state. If you look at another comment I made above, pellets cost the equivalent of 21¢ of electricity, so 39¢ per kwh to run a heat pump is just crazy.

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[deleted] t1_j33x5ad wrote

heat pumps also operate as air conditioners and electric vehicles may increase year round energy needs

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modernhomeowner t1_j341cku wrote

I have a heat pump and an ev. Last month, I was only in town about 11 days, so I had my heat turned way down and didn't charge my car very much - in fact, I drove my gas car mostly those days since gasoline is cheaper than electric right now, and there was some time I used my oil boilers just to keep the pipes from freezing.

I used 1594 kWh and generated 520kWh from my solar, which annually produces 80% of my needs. If I were home and had the heat higher, and charged my car a little more I would have used nearly 2000kWh, producing only 25% of what I used in December. By the way, before my heat pump and EV, my home used an average of 354kWh in December, so my solar panels would have covered my use, and still had some left over for my EV.

In July, I on average would use 1192 kWh, and produce 1825kWh.

Having an EV doesn't "balance" the year, it actually makes winter electricity more expensive, when they need fossil fuels to generate the electricity that my solar panels aren't making in the winter, but my heat pump needs. More expensive winter electricity means less people getting heat pumps and EVs.

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[deleted] t1_j342ye1 wrote

The transition to renewable energy sources will take time and money. They are planning large scale off shore wind farms.

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GWS2004 t1_j33k064 wrote

Oof, not good for you indoor air quality if that's your primary source. Wood ain't cheap either.

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modernhomeowner t1_j33vu2y wrote

High efficiency wood stoves don't put the smoke inside the house, they have heat exchangers that put the heat into household air and blows it back in.

On the price, a bag of pellets is $6.40, providing 264,000btu in an 80% efficient pellet stove - that's 41,250 btus per dollar. With my Mitsubishi heat pump, the seasonal average is 8940 btu per kwh, which means I need electric to be under 21.7¢ to be cheaper than pellets. Standard rate from national grid is a hair shy of 48¢, even my super cheap supply rate that I locked in the day national grid announced their increases, my rate is 26.5¢, and I don't think that will be available next year.

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