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Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

oneroof.co.nz

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Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#41

Post by mdoms »

gpm wrote: post #33

$675 for 2250kWh of electricity? They're doing something wrong. That's 30 cents per kwh of heat . Even if you just use resistive heating you beat that in every state, and probably most of the rest of the world. But it's better than that, because that's heat not electricity. 4 watts of heat transfer for 1 watt of electricity is reasonable with a heat pump, so it's $1.20, or if you consider that co-efficient of perform…

Gosh it's almost like different places in the world have different costs of living.

Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#42

Post by ip26 »

reaperducer wrote: post #13

I was once desperately poor. Too poor to turn on the heat. But I did have access to friendly cats, so I've been through this experiment in real life. One cat stuffed under the blankets at night is a significant improvement. But as you add more and more cats, the improvement becomes only incremental. I eventually learned that two cats was really the best one could hope for. Best positioning is between the legs, and wi…

Electric blankets were pretty awesome for this circumstance. Incredibly cheap to operate, extremely effective.

(I always had trouble washing them properly though)

Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#43

Post by mdoms »

bitwize wrote: post #7

The ideal number of cats per home in New Zealand is zero. Cats prey on local wildlife, much of which is near extinction as it is because of introduced predators including humans. Those who advocate for banning cats in New Zealand have a pretty strong case.

Looks like we found Gareth Morgan's HN account.

Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#45

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

xoa wrote: post #14

An interesting study, but spatially non-uniform dynamic thermal location and local partial biomass availability seem like factors here. While direct heaters, ground source heat pumps in particular, can be exceptionally efficient and functional year round, they ultimately have fixed exchange locations and must bring the whole house volume to temperature. Whereas a cat heater is dynamic: for example while I am sleeping…

Are you aware of Nathan W. Pyle?

His Strange Planet comic is written a bit like this

Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#46

Post by ip26 »

bacon_waffle wrote: post #22
dundarious wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an argument against indoor cats? That is now the recommendation in the US, as far as I know.

I live in NZ and my partner has an indoor-only cat. It's considered a bit weird here, we've had friends politely suggest that keeping a cat indoors is cruel. In principle indoor cats are just as good for bird life as no cats, but either is a tough sell.

we've had friends politely suggest that keeping a cat indoors is cruel

Lord, no wonder there's a bird mortality problem.

Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#47

Post by x87678r »

gpm wrote: post #33

$675 for 2250kWh of electricity? They're doing something wrong. That's 30 cents per kwh of heat . Even if you just use resistive heating you beat that in every state, and probably most of the rest of the world. But it's better than that, because that's heat not electricity. 4 watts of heat transfer for 1 watt of electricity is reasonable with a heat pump, so it's $1.20, or if you consider that co-efficient of perform…

> 30 cents per kwh

That is about right. Note in NZ includes 15% sales tax.

https://www.canstarblue.co.nz/energy/electricity-providers/a...

Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#48

Post by gpm »

mdoms wrote: post #41
gpm wrote: post #33

$675 for 2250kWh of electricity? They're doing something wrong. That's 30 cents per kwh of heat . Even if you just use resistive heating you beat that in every state, and probably most of the rest of the world. But it's better than that, because that's heat not electricity. 4 watts of heat transfer for 1 watt of electricity is reasonable with a heat pump, so it's $1.20, or if you consider that co-efficient of perform…

Gosh it's almost like different places in the world have different costs of living.

They do, but cost of electricity is relatively consistent because cost of production is (or at least upper bounded, some places have particularly cheap electricity because of geography). In this case the trick is that 30nzd=20usd and they didn't feel the need to clarify the currency.

Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#49

Post by ezzaf »

dkersten wrote: post #21
carabiner wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huge variation in cat food costs. Cheapest food can be under $100/year, most expensive can be 10x that.

Well, just to put it in perspective, I've spent more than their budget on vet bills alone over the past few months, nevermind cat food, flea/worm tablets, toys etc. They must have cats that don't need anything but the minimum amount of cheap food, never get sick...

It's cheaper to just replace the heat source than attempt to fix it starts malfunctioning.

Re: Cat vs. panel heater: which is better?

#50

Post by hinkley »

outworlder wrote: post #26
aidenn0 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any sufficiently popular indoor pet that can survive outdoors will end up with a feral population. So it's a bit like saying "instead of ROHS can't we just mandate recycling, but if the cheap kids toys people dump indescribably could breed.

Unless they are fixed. Charge a high pet licensing fee if they are not.

PAWS in Seattle will give you a cat and it comes for a coupon for a free spay or neuter (often kittens are too young at adoption time). Of course the fee for adoption is higher than the cost of the surgery, so you are paying for it whether you use it or not.
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