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Originally Posted by AC_Hacker
This Combined Heat and Power idea has been discussed in some degree of detail HERE. |
Yes, I know a lot about CHP. That is not what I am talking about. I have no plans to generate electricity.
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Originally Posted by AC_Hacker
I'm not sure why The fascination with car A/C compressors for hacking?
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I was just asking what is available. Suggestions?
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Originally Posted by AC_Hacker
By the way, if you "Use The Google" regarding the question originally asked in this thread, you will find a really significant amount of information.
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Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with google. The question originally asked was "anybody ever build a natural gas heat pump?", and thus, google cannot answer that question because I was asking the members of the forum. But beyond that, if you do a search for natural gas engine driven heat pumps you find almost nothing. Most results are about industrial sized gas burning ammonia absorption systems. I'm not asking about commercial systems, I'm wondering if anybody else has ever tried to do this themselves.
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Originally Posted by theoldwizard1
(put your hand next to any running engine ... that is heat energy you are feeling).
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You seem to be missing the point. Yes, I know exactly how much waste heat an engine produces, that's why I did the math for you in my first post. The engine in this situation is nothing more than a gas burner, that heat is not wasted, I am harvesting it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theoldwizard1
it is not likely that a natural gas "powered" heat pump (compressor) will EVER be cost effective !
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Do you have
any information to back that up? All the math I provided in my first post shows an approximate 50% savings. Is my math wrong?
Quote:
Originally Posted by theoldwizard1
Power companies buy their "chemical energy" (or nuclear energy) at wholesale and the economies of scale minimize the losses in converting it to electrical energy.
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That is not true. Commercial power generators throw away their heat. If you can use that heat for something else to displace a fuel you would otherwise be buying for heat, then you can save significant money. It is also much more efficient energy wise, if you care about that sort of thing.
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Originally Posted by randen
Two rationalities came to mind:
1/ The cost of diesel fuel was rising rapidly.
2/ We didn't care for another machine to maintain.
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I totally agree with you there. On the other hand, they've actually been lowering the price of natural gas! Maintenance is one of the biggest possible issues, but this is also something of a hobby.