$169 million will be taken from the Inflation Reduction Act to enable the heat pump industry to produce "over 300,000" heat pumps, which amounts to $563.33 each. Also:
In a press release, the Energy Department said that it expects to move “quickly” on another round of Defense Production Act investments in early 2024. It has already said that it plans to use the law to ramp up production of electric grid components, solar energy, insulation and hydrogen energy components.
Oh, joy, dystopian power future, here we come.
Is this about the gas appliance ban that totally isn't happening and you're a conspiracy theorist if you say it's happening (until it happens, in which case it's a good thing)?
So they are going to push heat pumps to cold climates? Typical. I live in a warm climate and have a heat pump. It's great most of the time. When temps approach freezing, they very quickly become fucking useless
What temperature do they work well?
I can see parts of Europe getting completely fucked if they rely on wind/solar and then heat pumps stop working…
Most of them work well down to about 25-30 degrees Freedom. Some of them have auto-defrost function that lets them go down to the teens.
Window air conditioners are just as efficient in the summer, and in deep winter electric barely costs more and will never break.
It's in the spring/fall that they save you money.
So you have a home heat pump that breaks every ten years, is loud, comes with lots of government regulation, and that you can match the lion's share of savings by not having your home at 74 all year round.
It's healthier to have some variety in temperatures anyway, just let it get cold inside in the fall.
People go on like they're some miracle, and I can't figure out why you'd want one. They don't make ACs or furnaces like they used to, but I guess they're the devil I know. Electric heating didn't used to be efficient, and I don't see how a heat pump changes that.
It's kind of like sailing; using the ambient atmosphere for energy, or putting energy into it. In spring/fall a heat pump can move 3x heat into a house for the same energy as electric generating the heat.
In theory it's a great idea. In practice it's a big expensive machine that breaks easily.
Right, but who generates heat using electricity? The only place I ever had that was apartments. And it sucked then. It seems like something people would only do for lack of gas.
If your choice is heat pump or nothing, it's easy. I don't see the point of preferring heat pumps in new or existing structures.
These are for military bases, right? Right?
Biden looks up from scribbling through the Third Amendment with a crayon Yeah, Jack, that's right!
At least that use case makes sense. You have fewer things to put up to get your base setup.
What is a "heat pump?" is that an american thing? whenever I look up pictures of "heat pumps" i see pictures of what I'd call a wall mounted air conditioner.
It's basically a combination air conditioner/heater. It functions the same as an AC unit, but it also can run in reverse to heat instead of cool. It can look like a wall AC unit, or have an outdoor unit coupled with central air.
They're pretty energy efficient, but even the best ones can only manage down to around 15F before it needs secondary heating to kick in, either electric or gas. And electric secondary heating is really inefficient. Most can only manage down to 25F.
Oh we just call that a reverse cycle air conditioner here.
What the hell is a "heat pump" and why have I never heard of them until about two months ago?
Because you didn't pay attention during high school physics?