andrewducker | Interesting Links for 19-06-2022

agreed. i look forward to new technology that we create in this crisis (humans need a crisis to do a good job with *anything*)...

but methinks that most of us are going to start dressing in heavier clothing to spare the cost of our new heating..

The new cold climate air source heat pumps (ccASHP) are being promoted by the Canadian government for retrofits of existing homes. I'm also considering getting a heat recovery air exchanger, so exhaust air from my bathroom and kitchen warms (or cools) incoming fresh air.

"so exhaust air from my bathroom and kitchen warms (or cools) incoming fresh air"

that sounds very interesting. :)

They have similar heat exchanges for shower drains. The copper cold-water pipe to the shower head is wrapped around a copper length of drain pipe. Instead of hot water going into the sewers, your wastewater is only the internal temperature of a tauntaun*; you need less than half as much hot water for your shower to be comfortable (up to 73% heat recovery!) They're about $500 Canadian dollars, but are best installed during new construction.

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/products/categories/water-heaters/14568

*Luke-warm

In the factory where I work, we have a heat exchanger that recovers 80% of the heat from the wastewater of our in-line electronics cleaner!

How much electricity do heat pumps use (and how do I generate that in the winter) ?is(are) the question(s) I'm asking myself. Here in N. Germany, in my old farmhouse in the country, I'm likely to use my current combo of oil/wood heating, fluffy clothing and eating lots to keep me warm until they give me a grant to change things (not holding my breath, my state has nothing like that right now). (I'm lucky in that my body mainly turns excess food straight into heat rather than insulation!).

I've got room for ground source, and don't need massive heat (but the place is dreadfully un insulated nor can it be easily or even advisably done. Damp and rot if you (very expensively) try to make old places into sealed boxes....

My understanding is that ground source heat pumps are ridiculously expensive to put in if you weren't already digging up the ground to lay foundations. Air source heat pumps are dramatically cheaper, but less effective.

Google "air source heat pump efficiency curve" to see how well they work at different temperatures.

There are two methods in my region for ground-source heat pumps.

In rural areas, you dig shallow trenches, lay coils of flexible pipe, and then backfill. Cheap, easy to install, can be done by any contractor, but requires a huge amount of land.

In urban areas, you drill vertical holes. Expensive, requires a drilling rig, but is compact.

But yeah, for badly insulated old houses no matter what you do it's going to leak straight out.

Efficiency drops as the source of thermal energy gets cooler, but generally a residential heat pump uses between a third and a quarter of the electricity you'd need to create the same heat with electric heaters.

It used to be that you needed ground or water sources, but the new air-source ones are supposedly able to work nearly as well, and are far cheaper to install.

Heat pumps do have a compressor that uses a lot of power to start up; North American houses usually would need an electrician to install a 230-240V circuit in addition to the usual 110-120V. I don't know enough about standard wiring in Germany to know if you'd need to upgrade.

If you live in a rural area with abundant wood, and your municipality allows burning wood for heat, it might be cheaper to increase the heat output of your wood stove. My uncle uses one of these thermoelectric fans - no wiring needed, it just sits on the stove and uses the heat of the stove to circulate the heat.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/home/fireplace/woodstove/50246-ecofan?item=45K1870

I had electric heating most of my life, so I know how much that is. Depressingly much.

Power here is 230V so no worries there.

I need wind power. It's almost always windy here. Too high a lat for sun to work in winter. Though of course I should get some.

I did not capitalise on this winter's storm windfall for wood as well as I should have. I wasn't sure what's allowable scavenge from the roadside etc. But my neighbour phoned the council about a tree down just across from him and they were more than happy that he cleared it up. So, next time! I have a small chainsaw and an axe.

We have one Kachelofen - a kind of wood fired storage heater - that's great, but sadly they dismantled the 2nd one! I don't know if ALL the bits are in the barn. Suspect not. Have one modern A++ rated Kaminofen fitted and another one to go in - should be enough. Officials come every year to inspect all "fires" (wood,gas,oil) and you have to pay them. (About €100). Which is annoying, but can't be helped. I don't see wood being disallowed round here for decades if ever - too many houses have nothing else still and we have some good tech like wood gas boilers (for solid wood, not pellets) which are very efficient.

I would love to have a rocket (mass) heater but not sure on regs. Must be possible because the Kachelofens are ok - just in a rocket stove I could burn twigs or make my own "fuel cakes" from chipped garden waste, since (I believe) they actually burn the creosote rather than it building up into a chimmney fire hazard.

Interesting Links for 19-06-2022

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