The CPUC insists it wants people to add batteries to solar systems to help the grid. But it just cut the compensation that households can earn by doing it.
There are definitely differences in installation, like piles instead of roof brackets, but I don’t imagine there’d be too big a difference in cost as long as there was local equipment to drill for the piles. And yes, I believe fences are only needed for larger installations.
Heat pumps are much more efficient than resistive electric heat, but you won’t save utility bills if you already have natural gas heat. Right now, electricity is about 9x more expensive for the same unit of heat compared to NG. I’d otherwise recommend it if you value emissions reductions over costs, though.
Our residential heat (900 ft² mobile home) is a 20-year old pellet stove with occasional use of a space heater in the opposite end of the building. There is no evidence that it’s on the way out, but it is 20 years old. We use 150-180 40lb bags of pellets to the tune of $1300-$1500 per year, plus the power used by the stove.
My shop (250 ft²) gets enough heat from occasional use of an external wood-fired rocket stove with heat exchanger for 3-season use. On colder days, I add in the overhead 750/1500 watt electric radiant heater so that I don’t have to wait 3 hours for the shop to come up to temperature, but I try to not use the shop when it’s colder than about -10C.
My analysis suggests that I can save at least $1000/year on pellets and eliminate the use of space heaters and rocket stove while also making it much easier to heat the shop when I need it. $1000/year (really, 6-7 months) goes a long way to making up the difference between current electrical use and expected electrical use.
And even if I’ve miscalculated, we can afford to pay a bit more to reduce wood use and resistive heating. One thing I’ve learned is that the best pellet stoves still put out more particulates than I’d like, and the rocket stove is worse. (Although the rocket stove is far better than the a campfire and people go through a lot more wood for their campfire than I use in the rocket stove.)
Ah, then yes, you’d benefit quite a bit from a heat pump. I’d keep the existing systems as backup for those extra cold days, but otherwise it sounds like a great upgrade, and you get the bonus of cooling in the summer.
There are definitely differences in installation, like piles instead of roof brackets, but I don’t imagine there’d be too big a difference in cost as long as there was local equipment to drill for the piles. And yes, I believe fences are only needed for larger installations.
Heat pumps are much more efficient than resistive electric heat, but you won’t save utility bills if you already have natural gas heat. Right now, electricity is about 9x more expensive for the same unit of heat compared to NG. I’d otherwise recommend it if you value emissions reductions over costs, though.
Natural gas is not available to us.
Our residential heat (900 ft² mobile home) is a 20-year old pellet stove with occasional use of a space heater in the opposite end of the building. There is no evidence that it’s on the way out, but it is 20 years old. We use 150-180 40lb bags of pellets to the tune of $1300-$1500 per year, plus the power used by the stove.
My shop (250 ft²) gets enough heat from occasional use of an external wood-fired rocket stove with heat exchanger for 3-season use. On colder days, I add in the overhead 750/1500 watt electric radiant heater so that I don’t have to wait 3 hours for the shop to come up to temperature, but I try to not use the shop when it’s colder than about -10C.
My analysis suggests that I can save at least $1000/year on pellets and eliminate the use of space heaters and rocket stove while also making it much easier to heat the shop when I need it. $1000/year (really, 6-7 months) goes a long way to making up the difference between current electrical use and expected electrical use.
And even if I’ve miscalculated, we can afford to pay a bit more to reduce wood use and resistive heating. One thing I’ve learned is that the best pellet stoves still put out more particulates than I’d like, and the rocket stove is worse. (Although the rocket stove is far better than the a campfire and people go through a lot more wood for their campfire than I use in the rocket stove.)
Ah, then yes, you’d benefit quite a bit from a heat pump. I’d keep the existing systems as backup for those extra cold days, but otherwise it sounds like a great upgrade, and you get the bonus of cooling in the summer.
Keeping the other systems operational for the coldest days and backup is the plan.
We’ve done fine with just a smallish room AC, but our heat tolerance is going down as we age, so having a bit more cooling would be nice.