Re:North American versus European distribution systems (2011)
by AnssiH on Monday August 26, 2019 @01:55PM
(#20802115)
Majority of new single homes in Finland have used geothermal heat pumps for the last ~5 years now (source e.g. https://www.energiatehokaskoti.fi/suunnittelu/talotekniikan_...).
Re:North American versus European distribution systems (2011)
by alkonaut on Monday August 26, 2019 @02:11PM
(#20802248)
Yes same in Sweden. I mean I’m sure upstate New York is equally freezing occasionally, but if heat pumps work in Northern Finland/Sweden one would think few places would be “too cold”.
What we do have in Sweden is cheap renewable electricity so choosing heat pump over oil/gas doesn’t just mean electric it means renewable over fossil too.
They lose efficiency in very cold conditions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_source_heat_pumps#In_cold_...). Albany, New York (https://www.weather.gov/aly/SpecialDataALB) has an official all-time record low of -28F (-33C), which is well below the point where air-source heat pumps have any meaningful efficiency advantage over even resistive heating.
Heat-pump solutions that use the ground as their heatsink are much more expensive because of the excavation required.