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Oxford study proves heat pumps triumph over fossil fuels in the cold (www.nationalobserver.com)
submitted 3 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Oxford study proves heat pumps triumph over fossil fuels in the cold::Published Monday in the scientific journal Joule, the research found that heat pumps are two to three times more efficient than their oil and gas counterparts, specifically in temperatures ranging from 10 C to -20 C.

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[+] -6 points 3 years ago (26 children)

A/C guy who's the son of an A/C guy here. Heat pumps lose efficiency the colder it gets. I wouldn't bother with one if you're in a northern climate. Lower midwest, you might be able to save money with a heat pump over natural gas, but it will depend heavily on the cost of the respective energy. For me, in the central US, we have great prices on gas and somewhat crappy prices on electricity (vs most surrounding regions) and it's definitely cheaper for me to stick with gas heat.

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  • [–] 18 points 3 years ago (5 children)

    Your information is outdated. It is even clearly mentioned in the one-sentence summary in the OP:

    Oxford study proves heat pumps triumph over fossil fuels in the cold::Published Monday in the scientific journal Joule, the research found that heat pumps are two to three times more efficient than their oil and gas counterparts, specifically in temperatures ranging from 10 C to -20 C.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (4 children)

    That doesn't say anything about gas prices.

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  • [+] -2 points 3 years ago (3 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    And the naysayers don't actually run calculations to see what their true costs might be, they already decided gas is king. A couple of good ol boy type HVAC folks that all say "just get a furnace" is all they need to know, reality be damned.

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  • [–] 16 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago)

    Thankfully heat pumps have gotten better since your father's day. And natural gas is only going to keep getting more expensive. For a price of equipment that will last you 15-25 years it's becoming harder to justify gas heating.

    For new builds ground source heat pumps should become more standard, they cost more, but they'll save a lot in the long run.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago (8 children)

    But its all irrelevant because the most effective way to keep warm is to continue with global warming. Soon we wont have a cold season to worry about. 😜

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  • [+] -25 points 3 years ago (5 children)

    Continue? You can't stop it even if you wanted to, unless you pervert the natural climate cycles somehow. We are exiting a cold period and it has nothing whatsoever to do with using gas or come farts.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    Oh fuck! Are you a climate change denier?! Are you joking, too? or do you still believe this is a natural change?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    The climate changes. There's no denying it. No it isn't caused by cow farts so everyone needs to? eat bugs instead, and no it isn't caused by driving your car so you must become a serf and be bound to your lords 15 minute plantation.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    Dont know what happened, but i can't see this comment thread anymore. Maybe it's been deleted.

    Whatever happened, you are absolutely full of shit.

    Maybe you should try listening to scientists instead of talking about cow farts. There is an insurmoutable amount of information and proof that the climate has warmed drastically in the last 20-100 years and it doesn't follow any recorded pattern of warming and cooling since the dawn of humanity ~200000 years ago.

    https://xkcd.com/1732/

    Heres a nice image showing the data in simple terms.

    You xan continue to dwny it all you want, but any rational person will ignore you.

    Incidentally, dont pay attention to mass media, i hear a claim i look at the facts and draw my own conclusions. You should do the same.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago*

    If you're on propane, it's more likely to be cheaper. Particularly over the course of an entire heating season, because they're more efficient in fall and spring than the coldest part of winter.

    But yeah, this study wasn't looking at cost per therm but just raw COP, which is a pointless metric. It doesn't even compare the number of watts of heat from burning natural gas in a furnace vs in a modern power plant that supplies a heat pump. Although since we don't have a carbon tax, that's only a theoretically interesting comparison.

    Heat pumps work fine for most people in the north. Mitsubishi's cold climate heat pumps supply 85% of their rated heat at -13F. Buffalo is a city known for its winters, and the last time Buffalo's lowest temperature was below that was 1982. They're just going to be a more expensive option for most people right now.

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