Re:Do heat pumps work in cold climates?
by Jochim on Saturday January 14, 2023 @09:27PM
(#34386210)
> And that matches my assumptions about US vs UK and EU -- US makes energy really cheap for consumers.
It's hard to judge, prices here spiked 3-5 times in two years; I'm pretty sure they more than doubled last year alone. I don't think the US was affected as seriously by the Ukraine situation. Government negligence has allowed a lot of price gouging by energy companies. Further incompetence has led to renewable suppliers being paid a rate based on the inflated costs of running a gas power station.
> That could explain the OP, the cost-benefit might make more sense with US energy prices? Or is that right, should it be the opposite? The OP seemed to know what they were talking about, do you think they were wrong? I'm figuring they were right for US prices but maybe not UK.
Cheaper energy makes capital intense investments a less sensible. As an extreme example, if your energy bills are only $50/year spending even $1k on a device that cuts your bills in half would be a poor financial decision.
The other major factor is the ratio of electricity to gas prices. It sounds like in some places they're nearly equal. Heat pumps are a much more sensible option in those places.
If a heat pump is 3x as effective as heating with gas, 1kWh of electricity needs cost you less than 3x that of gas before you begin to see a financial saving.
Another is that UK homes are almost universally heated by circulating hot water through radiators in each room. Comments from others seem to indicate that these setups are typically more expensive than the air based systems typical of the US.
It's hard to judge, prices here spiked 3-5 times in two years; I'm pretty sure they more than doubled last year alone. I don't think the US was affected as seriously by the Ukraine situation. Government negligence has allowed a lot of price gouging by energy companies. Further incompetence has led to renewable suppliers being paid a rate based on the inflated costs of running a gas power station.
> That could explain the OP, the cost-benefit might make more sense with US energy prices? Or is that right, should it be the opposite? The OP seemed to know what they were talking about, do you think they were wrong? I'm figuring they were right for US prices but maybe not UK.
Cheaper energy makes capital intense investments a less sensible. As an extreme example, if your energy bills are only $50/year spending even $1k on a device that cuts your bills in half would be a poor financial decision.
The other major factor is the ratio of electricity to gas prices. It sounds like in some places they're nearly equal. Heat pumps are a much more sensible option in those places. If a heat pump is 3x as effective as heating with gas, 1kWh of electricity needs cost you less than 3x that of gas before you begin to see a financial saving.
Another is that UK homes are almost universally heated by circulating hot water through radiators in each room. Comments from others seem to indicate that these setups are typically more expensive than the air based systems typical of the US.