fossil fuel free
Not sure where to put this so I stuck it here.
First, the 1958 house had a standard natural draft gas water heater (50% efficient if you are lucky), 1980 era SlantFin cast iron boiler (probably 75% efficient), gas cook top (not good for the health, or so the latest research shows) and a gas dryer with a dodgy control knob. Ohh, also, 3" of whatever insulation they put in the attic (800ft2). Gone, all of it...... In goes: New 2 plate induction cooktop and a single plug in one if needed, electric tank with one element run by 2kw of PV directly (installed it on in March and only now have I turned on the backup), and top element hooked to the grid, boiler is now a 3 ton Fujitsu type heat pump (no name brand but now you know what it looks like) that I bastardized to heat a brazed plate HX and run my rads. It isn't too cold out so far (6C early this morning) and the tank has been holding steady at 58C. Nice. And to top it off, the gas dryer is gone and a Samsung heat pump dryer is in. It is working great and a nice thing is I can cover up that nasty vent. What a waste of heated air. Ohh, and R50 of blown in cellulose in the attic. As Ontario is almost all non fossil fuel for its electricity, I'm pretty pleased to be off the gas. Now to finish my long delayed EV VW truck. |
Last spring, I bought an induction cook top. It keeps the house cool in the summer. That was also the last day I used propane. We use solar energy for heating and cooling with some grid power now.
Since I bought a fifth wheel RV, we do use a bit more electricity, $35 per month more right now. (I'm sure that will change soon.) The RV also now has its own cook induction top. It costs $100 to fill two 100 lb cylinders and $30 for a small bottle. The BTU or Watt value just doesn't add up. I have bought a diesel heater to try as a backup in the RV but haven't got it assembled yet. Mikesolar, how much energy does the Samsung heat pump dryer cost to run? |
It says 135kwh per year but I will put my meter on it and see what a load takes.
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I would recommend fossil fuel or renewable fuel backups as that part of Canada is ground 0 for solar storm power disruptions in the northern hemisphere.
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The problem is when the next big one hits the power is going to go out for a while there.
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My solar and wind power usually goes down from November to January every year. That's when I use the most grid power.
With gas prices as low as they are, it may be cheaper to use a generator instead of grid. |
We bought an induction cooker for on pan for a while. We liked it so much we got an induction stove. I was sold on gas stove but induction is the best over all I just wish the cost would get lower.
Solar / Geothermal HVAC. Chevy Volt / sBike But my new Plasma CNC business has made it so I will not net zero this year. |
I don't know about that. Using gasoline to generate power you are probably looking at 50 cents to $1 per kwh.
Now if you had a liquid cooled generator and could pipe that hot engine coolant from a liquid cooled generator inside the house during the winter then the efficiency goes way up. |
What model samsung? and is it a "vent free" model (i.e. no lint dump to outdoors)?
the whirlpool I saw that is discontinued still had a 4" dryer vent, and I don't like that. |
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