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Re:Germany shelves Nord Stream 2 pipeline by hannasanarion on Tuesday February 22, 2022 @09:02AM (#30427993)
And for a home heater, 80% of the heat from the gas you burn goes up the chimney.

Larger energy capture devices can be more efficient. One highly-efficient fuel burning plant providing power to a hundred thousand electric resistive heaters can produce more useful heat per unit fuel than a hundred thousand small-scale self-maintained home furnaces.

Re:Germany shelves Nord Stream 2 pipeline by michaelt on Tuesday February 22, 2022 @09:26AM (#30428265)
You're both wrong.

Combined cycle power plants can be 64% efficient [1] at turning heat into electricity. And if that power goes on to run a heat pump, 1 watt of electric power can deliver 3-4 watts of heating.

And modern gas combi boilers can be 92-98% efficient [2].

The days of people throwing away 80% of the energy they pay for are long gone.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_cycle_power_plant [2] https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/boilers/article/boiler-energ...

Re:Germany shelves Nord Stream 2 pipeline by fsh on Tuesday February 22, 2022 @09:33AM (#30428351)
Could you give some examples for nuclear power plants that are using a combined cycle turbine? I was under the impression that the operating temperatures of BWRs or PWRs are nowhere near high enough for that.
Re:Germany shelves Nord Stream 2 pipeline by PinguTS on Tuesday February 22, 2022 @09:17AM (#30428139)
Your numbers are totally off. When did you bought and installed the last heater?

Modern condensing heaters have an efficiency of 90%.

Re:Germany shelves Nord Stream 2 pipeline by fsh on Tuesday February 22, 2022 @09:11AM (#30428090)
I think you got your numbers wrong. Even in the US, you are not allowed to sell gas furnaces with less than 80% efficiency. High-end ones reach over 99% efficiency.