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Why can’t my whole home participate in this technology? It would seem an ok fit for things like freezers, refrigerators, hot water heaters, etc. When it’s freezing cold outside, it seems crazy that I warm the air of my house and then use electricity to keep the fridge cooler than the air I just heated. Someone needs to make a standard for moving heat/cool through all appliances in a house…
I often see my HVAC cooling when the set-point temperature is actually _higher_ than the outside temperature. Logically, the house is a heat generator, it makes sense physically. The roof is black, etc.
It would offer a good number of benefits if the system could outright open a duct to the outdoor air, and suck it in whenever the local outside temperature is within the range requested by the user. People who are into optimizing energy use (they exist) can go even further and pre-cool their house during the night in summer.
For this to work, all you need a pusher fan, no refrigeration at all. There might be some pressurization problems, like, you may need a duct both for the intake and outlet. Also might require another filter... but air quality would improve significantly.
This is a really "dumb" idea, but it's perfectly in-line with all the new ideas being thrown out there. The new ideas just tend to throw in an additional heat storage mechanism, like a water tank (in the article). You can get a lot more efficiency gains by saving the night's cold in a tank and using it through the day. But on a more basic level, you can pump straight into the house when the conditions are right.
> heat pumps: electrical devices Just to be pedantic, but not exactly. The typical design in a domestic heating unit, or refrigerator is mechanical. A fluid is pumped and cyclically compressed/expanded. While electric motors are usually used, they can be driven by any source of mechanical energy; driven directly by a combustion engine is not too unusual. There are also heat pump cycles that can be driven directly wit…
> Finding a high-efficiency thermoelectric material that works at normal temperatures and pressures is nearly as much of a Holy Grail as finding a high temperature superconductor. Are they two sides of the same problem?
Why can’t my whole home participate in this technology? It would seem an ok fit for things like freezers, refrigerators, hot water heaters, etc. When it’s freezing cold outside, it seems crazy that I warm the air of my house and then use electricity to keep the fridge cooler than the air I just heated. Someone needs to make a standard for moving heat/cool through all appliances in a house…
When will air source heat pumps be ready for service in cold weather climates without gas backup?
When will air source heat pumps be ready for service in cold weather climates without gas backup?
Even for less effective heat pumps, gas backup isn't really a requirement since you can often use electric "heat strip" backup like my home does. Heat strips are not particularly energy efficient, but many places that can get cold during the winter aren't continuously cold, so a less efficient electric backup is just fine.
If you have to have a backup it is _not_ a replacement and it will not get us off of carbon. Most people cannot afford a heat pump system much less a heat pump _and_ a furnace. Heat pumps seem great for moderate climates but it is not gonna happen up north where things actually get cold and stay cold for long periods of time.
Anyone who actually has experienced this type of cold would run in the opposite direction of a heating technology that produces less warmth the colder it gets outside. Literally the opposite of what is needed for existence.
Why can’t my whole home participate in this technology? It would seem an ok fit for things like freezers, refrigerators, hot water heaters, etc. When it’s freezing cold outside, it seems crazy that I warm the air of my house and then use electricity to keep the fridge cooler than the air I just heated. Someone needs to make a standard for moving heat/cool through all appliances in a house…
The fridge isn't the biggest energy hog in the house, but I'm very sympathetic to the absurdity of heat levels in a house. I often see my HVAC cooling when the set-point temperature is actually _higher_ than the outside temperature. Logically, the house is a heat generator, it makes sense physically. The roof is black, etc. It would offer a good number of benefits if the system could outright open a duct to the outdo…
My thought is I should keep them closed due to extra load on the AC to dehumidify the outside air. Or open windows and turn AC to fan-only mode to prevent stagnant air in rooms without windows.
Why can’t my whole home participate in this technology? It would seem an ok fit for things like freezers, refrigerators, hot water heaters, etc. When it’s freezing cold outside, it seems crazy that I warm the air of my house and then use electricity to keep the fridge cooler than the air I just heated. Someone needs to make a standard for moving heat/cool through all appliances in a house…
For something the size of a home fridge the costs would be immense compared to the energy savings. You're far far better off spending that money on more efficient heat pumps and more/better insulation.
The federal limit for the amount of power a fridge can pull is 527 kWh/year, which at my rates (admittedly on the low end these days) is ~$70/year. There are very commonly available fridges that are Though, I admit that the idea of a completely silent fridge & A/C is alluring. Here's to hoping we make some breakthroughs on sold-state heat pumps.
In 2017 we installed a very efficient air-source heat pump and solar panels. My electrical utility offers 1:1 buyback of electricity so I am able to build up a credit in the summer and run the heat pump well into the fall and winter on that surplus. The system is sized for cooling the house which means that it is undersized for heating, but during cool fall and spring temperatures it operates satisfactorily as a heat…
The tech is not ready if you need a backup. I've lived in extreme cold climate areas and no gas furnace I've had has ever needed a backup.