21–30 of 127 posts
Even my air compressors have blow off valves, did something get lost in the advancement of technology from the boiler days ???? it seems to be a pretty stupid design that doesn't have relief valves.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about the 45% efficiency of a natural gas power plant? Yes induction is efficient if you only look at the part inside your house. But most of the losses are outside your house. If you live in a place with advanced wind or solar power like South Korea then electric probably is more efficient.
The electric grid tilts cleaner every year. Your stove will burn natural gas forever. A combined cycle natural gas generator is upwards of 50% efficient, already more efficient than your gas stove. It's wasteful to spend money on gas infrastructure when it's clear electrical distribution is the future of home energy use. Infrastructure dollars are already in short supply. Just my two cents. EDIT: You can stockpile en…
Maybe for cooking with a wok. But around here most homes are heated with natural gas. And that takes a lot more energy then heating chicken and vegetables.
New natural gas furnaces are up to 97% efficient. They're no longer allowed to sell furnaces that are less than 78% efficient.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/gas-furnaces/buying-guid...
I realise this is beside the point of the article, but gas distribution seems like an obsolete and dangerous technology to me. For cooking, induction, for heating, heat pumps.
Induction stoves are unpleasant and ineffective to cook on, not to mention inefficient. And if you want to use a wok, well, you can't. They are definitely better in appealing to first time buyers who may not know or care about their shortcomings. They look great and are easy to clean. But if you are into cooking, gas wins.
"When Open Loop Detection is enabled L.dE, the controller will look for the power output to be at 100%. Once there, the control will then begin to monitor the Open Loop Detect Deviation L.dd as it relates to the value entered for the Open Loop Detect Time L.dt. If the specified time period expires and the deviation does not occur, an Open Loop Error will be triggered. Once the Open Loop Error condition exists the control mode will go off and an Open Loop message will be display. If the process value goes in the opposite direction, a Reversed Loop message is display. The sensor is likely wired in reverse polarity."
If this crew was replacing an old cast iron gas main, it probably predated such controllers. That's not necessarily a bad thing. A mechanical controller can work for many decades. It's hard to get that level of uptime from microprocessors.
The real problem here is "maintenance induced failure". Especially on a system which is not fully shut down.
[1] https://www.watlow.com/-/media/documents/user-manuals/pm-pid...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The electric grid tilts cleaner every year. Your stove will burn natural gas forever. A combined cycle natural gas generator is upwards of 50% efficient, already more efficient than your gas stove. It's wasteful to spend money on gas infrastructure when it's clear electrical distribution is the future of home energy use. Infrastructure dollars are already in short supply. Just my two cents. EDIT: You can stockpile en…
It's wasteful to spend money on gas infrastructure when it's clear electrical distribution is the future of home energy use. Maybe for cooking with a wok. But around here most homes are heated with natural gas. And that takes a lot more energy then heating chicken and vegetables. New natural gas furnaces are up to 97% efficient. They're no longer allowed to sell furnaces that are less than 78% efficient. https://www.…
To your point, you can purchase very efficient gas furnaces, but they're more expensive and require a retrofit of the flue pipe to PVC due to corrosive properties of high efficiency furnace exhaust (not a concern in new construction).
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/heat-pumps/buying-guide/...
Air source only heat with a heat pump is a slam dunk anywhere south of the 36°30′ parallel, and all of California.
https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-state-temp...
I realise this is beside the point of the article, but gas distribution seems like an obsolete and dangerous technology to me. For cooking, induction, for heating, heat pumps.
You can take my gas stove over my dead body. I'll happily pay whatever it takes for carbon neutral methane to come through my pipes. (Natural gas is mostly methane.)
The flame just makes everything taste better, and methane is pretty easy to produce without fossil fuels.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about the 45% efficiency of a natural gas power plant? Yes induction is efficient if you only look at the part inside your house. But most of the losses are outside your house. If you live in a place with advanced wind or solar power like South Korea then electric probably is more efficient.
The electric grid tilts cleaner every year. Your stove will burn natural gas forever. A combined cycle natural gas generator is upwards of 50% efficient, already more efficient than your gas stove. It's wasteful to spend money on gas infrastructure when it's clear electrical distribution is the future of home energy use. Infrastructure dollars are already in short supply. Just my two cents. EDIT: You can stockpile en…
We can stockpile natural gas, which is mostly methane. And we can figure out how to make methane without fossil fuels.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> On the nuclear topic, I'm annoyed that natural gas accidents that cause deaths get way lighter media treatment than nuclear accidents like TMI that cause no deaths. Why this annoyance? I'd prefer the media for the most part shut up about energy accidents in general, considering how damaging their outcries have been for nuclear power. A few sober reports are fine. It's probably a minor miracle the natural gas indust…
Heh, I guess you're right: I'd prefer both nuclear and natural gas to get sober reports. I think natural gas has a better name (it's natural! As if uranium is not), no ties to superweapons, and no The Simpsons. Regular fire is just easier to understand to most folks than radioisotopes.
Even my air compressors have blow off valves, did something get lost in the advancement of technology from the boiler days ???? it seems to be a pretty stupid design that doesn't have relief valves.
I don't know much about the specifics of gas distribution, but I came across a comment on an entirely different discussion recently which I think is apropos: > you should be very suspicious of any conclusion that requires you to assume that all the world’s experts have missed something extremely basic. It seems to me most likely that the answer is simply that releasing natural gas into the air is an even more dangero…
I realise this is beside the point of the article, but gas distribution seems like an obsolete and dangerous technology to me. For cooking, induction, for heating, heat pumps.
I built my house with solar, heat pumps, an EV charger... And natural gas service just for my stove and grill. It costs $500 for gas service, or $500 to put in the high amperage outlet for the stove, so it's a wash, cost-wise. You can take my gas stove over my dead body. I'll happily pay whatever it takes for carbon neutral methane to come through my pipes. (Natural gas is mostly methane.) The flame just makes everyt…
For installation. For ongoing costs, gas wins by a mile.