The Home Ownership Thread

[nootje]

In the various capital projects I’ve been involved in the experts always told the inevitable “green” person on my building committee heat pumps suck for uses in buildings like health care facilities as the rebound capacity is hours vs a few minutes. Basically a cold room takes forever to heat, etc. Think of lobbies etc.

Probably correct in those cases. From what I know here they don’t attempt to use heat pumps unless the building was designed to use them or already set up for such as system. Fwiw, these are two articles (in Dutch, can’t do the google translate for you as I’m on an iPhone on vacation ?) where hospitals successfully implemented heat pumps.

Tergooi ziekenhuis Blaricum - Installect

Voor Tergooi ziekenhuis Blaricum adviseerde Installect de inpassing van een hoge temperatuur warmtepomp (HT-WP) met 300% rendement op primaire energie.

installect.nl

Warmtepompen voor Antoni van Leeuwenhoek ziekenhuis

<strong>Het Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (AVL) schakelt voor een groot deel over op warmtepompen in combinatie met bodemenergieopslag. Het Amsterdamse ziekenhuis en onderzoeksinstituut doet dit niet alleen om van het gas af te raken, maar ook voor de kostenbesparing.</strong>

www.vakbladwarmtepompen.nl

 

[poorsod]

Well in NY the governor is trying to eliminate natural gas so it is just a matter of time until all stoves are induction here.

my building specfi forbids electric/induction cooktops. I believe it’s because the electrics can’t support the amps.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Interesting

 

[Van Veen]

Boils a pot of water like nobody's business and keeps you kitchen cool.

Obviously better than standard electric... But mixed against gas. Can cook every bit as well as gas (adjustment, intensity, consistency, etc.) But lacks the visual feedback and ability to char things.

It's not just visual feedback. Most induction cooktops use a duty cycle to achieve lower power, i.e. they pulse on and off. It's not the same thing as a constant low flame.

(I'm probably not a good enough cook that it makes a difference.)

 

[Ataturk]

I've never understood heating with electricity instead of gas. On one hand you light a gas flame and heat your water. On the other you pipe gas to a powerplant, heat water to steam, pipe the steam to a turbine to spin a generator that makes electricity, transmit that electricity through a huge network of transmission lines to your house so you can push a button to heat your water.

A natural gas furnace is usually about 80% efficient, but a heat pump can be 300% efficient (or more). Heat pumps are better even when natural gas is used to generate the electricity (and taking into account the transmission losses, etc.).

The big downside of heat pumps is that their efficiency goes down when it gets really cold, but that's not really an issue for California.

 

[jcman311]

On the subject, with such a cool (no pun) and unique way to generate conditioned air, “heat pump” was the best name they could come up with? Sounds like something on a 1930s Cadillac.

 

[otc]

Some notable high end restaurants have gone induction in recent remodels... If they can cook with it, so can you.

It's not just visual feedback. Most induction cooktops use a duty cycle to achieve lower power, i.e. they pulse on and off. It's not the same thing as a constant low flame.

(I'm probably not a good enough cook that it makes a difference.)

Electric cooktops do , but I thought most good electric induction ranges could do a perfect simmer. I would certainly never buy one that pulsed.

Not to mention the instantly cool surface when you remove a pot so people like kids dont burn themselves (and unlike an electric range)

Ugh, that gets so annoying on a busy range. With 2 pots, you always have somewhere cool you can set a pan. Past that, you either have to start setting pans elsewhere, or try to guess when a burner has been off long enough that it won't overcook what you set on it.

 

[Ataturk]

Heat pump---that's what it is. It's also called air conditioning and refrigeration. Do you have a better name in mind?

 

[Gibonius]

It's not just visual feedback. Most induction cooktops use a duty cycle to achieve lower power, i.e. they pulse on and off. It's not the same thing as a constant low flame.

(I'm probably not a good enough cook that it makes a difference.)

They operate at frequencies of a couple kHz, so it seems like they could pretty easily alter the duty cycle at timescales that would be far more rapid than anything that would matter for cooking. Is anybody doing cooking actions that take less than a millisecond?

 

[Numbernine]

Heat pump---that's what it is. It's also called air conditioning and refrigeration. Do you have a better name in mind?

Joule-Thomson effect??

 

[brokencycle]

I don't think mine pulses, but my wife reported that she made pasta in about 7 minutes today. The water was boiling in about 30 seconds, and it actually boiled over, so she just picked up the pot, wiped of the stove top and put the pot back down.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Have any of you used rubberized vinyl tiles in your garage/workshop? I’ve been planing to get rid of the carpet from my wood shop (long overdue) and replace it with those tiles but curious to see some real world reviews.

 

[Omega Male]

A buddy of mine just renovated his workshop/workout room (he's a powerlifter) and swears by the rubber mats they use for horse stalls in stables. Says it's by far the cheapest and toughest option. Downside is they're HEAVY so transporting and installing is hard work.

3/4" Diamond Top Horse Mats - Barn Stall Flooring

3/4" Diamond Top Horse Mats provide a heavy-duty rubber mat solution designed for use in horse stalls or as horse trailer flooring. USA made. Easy to clean and maintain.

www.rubberflooringinc.com

 

[patrickBOOTH]

A natural gas furnace is usually about 80% efficient, but a heat pump can be 300% efficient (or more). Heat pumps are better even when natural gas is used to generate the electricity (and taking into account the transmission losses, etc.).

The big downside of heat pumps is that their efficiency goes down when it gets really cold, but that's not really an issue for California.

Yes, also ground source heat pumps (geothermal) are great if you're in the right location.

 

[Piobaire]

FWIW, when I and some Sty-Fo IC notables were given a tour of the kitchen at Robuchon’s The Manson in Vegas back in ‘11 they were already using induction.