Battery based vehicles of today and tomorrow pt 2

[lman]

That's something I never agreed with in the Northern States. You need another heat source. Electric heat eats you alive up there. Those extra fees are double what we pay here in Arkansas. They can install heat pumps, but they are only good down to about 25°. After that, you rely on heat strips, which will double the electricity usage. Get a good cold snap for a month, and we will be reading articles about how people can't afford their electric bills.

That doesn't even factor in the reliability of the power grid in the north and the fact that it couldn't handle the existing load the other day.

I've got a heat pump and it was working just fine at -10 a couple days ago. I never have used the heat strips. They're shut off. It's a ground source heat pump(geothermal).
You might want to do a little more research.

 

[Dftodd]

I've got a heat pump and it was working just fine at -10 a couple days ago. I never have used the heat strips. They're shut off. It's a ground source heat pump(geothermal).
You might want to do a little more research.

Geothermal is a whole different animal from a regular electric heat pump. Since you are using 50° water cycled through wells instead of outside air.

Gramps had one one in his house and had a similar experience. His place was always nice and cozy. Never needed the heat strips, either.

Geothermal is the way to go if you have the space for the wells and money for the initial installation. The big issue around here is finding someone who can work on it or even install one for you. Most of your average heating and air-conditioning companies won't touch them locally.

 

[grsthegreat]

Ive only seen one ground source geothermal where i live, i was called to add an electric boiler to system because it wasnt keeping house warm enough. Were just too far north i think.

 

[grsthegreat]

You can cut your wood for $200 per month?

I use combination wood and gas heat. As i get older i get lasier. My monthly elect/gas bill is roughly $200/month in winter, drops to about $80 in summer due to ac use. I have twin gas water heaters, gas heat, gas stovetop

 

[ovrszd]

I use combination wood and gas heat. As i get older i get lasier. My monthly elect/gas bill is roughly $200/month in winter, drops to about $80 in summer due to ac use. I have twin gas water heaters, gas heat, gas stovetop

Wood cutting costs should always be added to the equation. I've never saw free wood.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

According to that video , uhm... Buy your Tesla stock now.

More supporting evidence. It's amazing no one is working to compete against Tesla but letting Tesla just pull further and further ahead.

 

[bnold]

Heat pumps have come a long way in recent years.

Mine are good to 0 before resistive heat is likely to take over. Maybe a defrost cycle if the exterior moisture is high.

Think we were 12 at the lowest during this snap. 68 in the house without any problems.

Heat pumps are extremely popular in the south.

Some of the Japanese brands can do below -10F

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Heat pumps have come a long way in recent years.

Mine are good to 0 before resistive heat is likely to take over. Maybe a defrost cycle if the exterior moisture is high.

Think we were 12 at the lowest during this snap. 68 in the house without any problems.

Heat pumps are extremely popular in the south.

Some of the Japanese brands can do below -10F

That's good information. The low pH of our water took out our water source heat pumps and we're on resistant only now. But that is an upcoming upgrade that we need is to get good heat low cost for retirement.

 

[Dftodd]

I use combination wood and gas heat. As i get older i get lasier. My monthly elect/gas bill is roughly $200/month in winter, drops to about $80 in summer due to ac use. I have twin gas water heaters, gas heat, gas stovetop

Growing up in Vermont, we had a combination furnace. Wood burning or heating oil/ diesel. We burned wood the majority of the time. But we would get 15 to 20 gallons of diesel for the burner if we were gonna get Temps in the -20's. This way the burner would kick in if we missed stoking the fire in the middle of the night.

Had a nat gas furnace in my house in Florida, as well as my apartment after I moved to Arkansas.

My first experience with a heat pump was gramps geothermal. My second was the electric heat pump when I bought my house.

That was a huge learning curve. The house had the crap windows with aluminum frames and 3" of insulation in the attic. Was miserable in the middle of summer and miserable during the cold snaps in winter. Especially after being used to a gas or wood furnace and no clue on how a heat pump operated.

The first thing was getting the attic insulated and vented properly so the heat would escape the attic and wouldn't wick into the house through your ceiling in the summer.

The second was high-end windows, so they didn't wick the cold into the house in winter.

I also asked a metric ton of questions about how they operated every time I encountered a heating and ac tech.

"This is for people that don't know."

An electric heat pump will only generate about 55° more heat than ambient temperature outside. So if it's 20° outside, the heat coming out of your ductwork will be around 75°. Add in any heat loss (bad insulation, crap windows), and they have a hard time keeping up.

Your heat strips won't kick in under normal operation until after the temperature drops 2° below whatever the temperature is set at on the thermostat. The exception is that they will immediately kick on during the defrost cycle during normal operation.

So they struggle and lose ground till the heat strips kick in when it gets down to around 25° outside. Then your home will finally warm back up.

That's also why I just kick it to emergency heat when Temps are gonna be below 25°. Then your operating solely on the heat strips and not losing 2° of heat before the strips kick on.

 

[Dftodd]

That's good information. The low pH of our water took out our water source heat pumps and we're on resistant only now. But that is an upcoming upgrade that we need is to get good heat low cost for retirement.

Good windows and plenty of insulation in the attic make a huge difference in operation and comfort. We are currently renting a brand new home after selling our house last year.

The property manager went with a lower end double pane window when they built the place. You could really feel the cold wicking in through the glass the past couple days when the temperature was between 1° and 20°.

The heat pump struggled and barely shut off. Even running just on the heat strips.

In our old home, we installed high-end windows that wouldn't wick the cold. Heat pump would kick on and run for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then stay off for about 30 minutes. Longer with milder temperatures.

In this new house, it was running for around 40 minutes. Off for 10, then running for another 40 minutes the past couple days with the artic Temps.