Technology

I like you.

I agree, there's a lot more to it than just the argument that was presented. I am also woefully unfamiliar with measurements of energy in common use, and sort of come at things from a more physics mindset. I'm no physics major, but it just makes sense to me that way.

Personally I'm a fan of heat pumps. There's plenty of reasons not to go that route, but when it comes to electrically driven heating and cooling, you'll be hard pressed to find a better alternative.

I'm in the camp of going independent with power. Getting solar, a battery system, and converting everything to electric. That's the plan at least. If my power is free (from solar) then if I lose some efficiency in the conversation, that's okay, it's free power either way.... though, not "free".... just, I'm not paying per watt (or kWh) I just need to buy the material to make the system go.... that's not free, but day to day operations are. If I'm making sense.

I'm not where I want to be yet, everything is a work in progress for now. I still have several natural gas systems in the house, including the furnace. I can't afford to do everything all at once. My current plan is to buy and install a grid-tied solar system, with the option of batteries, in the near future. Maybe the next few years. We have a good South (ish) facing roof above our garage which will be ground zero for solar panels. It's sizeable, so hopefully 20+ kW of solar will fit.

After that's in, start working on electrification inside, make sure our grid connection is up to par, and start replacing and upgrading our furnace/water heater/whatever with electric counterparts and try to make everything as efficient as possible.

When finances allow, buy a battery system that can power the house for ~24-48h, based on usage, and add it to the solar system. Maybe start with 10-12h worth, and upgrade as we go. I'm thinking of getting the rack-mount LiFePO4 packs, and starting with around 4 (~20kWh), and go up from there. I'm an IT guy, so racks are a go to for me. As finances allow, pick up another pack to bring it to 5, and another, and another, etc, until we hit my goals. The goals are very specific and I have reasons to want 20+ kW of solar, and 2 days of battery backup. Our area supports net metering, so we should be good to start on the plan. It's going to take decades to get it done.

This is all very off topic, but I figure were so far down this thread and so deep into the bowels of post history that nobody but you and I will be reading it. I felt like sharing my plan; for no other reason than to say it out loud.... more or less.

Heat pumps are in my future. So regardless of all other factors, like "efficiency"... that's what I'll be doing. Hybrid is definitely an option, though, I'll probably go with "dual source" (heat pump + electric resistive) for my system if possible. We're pretty far south in Canada where I am (Niagara region) so I'm ok for the heat pump to provide 100% of my heating for over 99% of the year. We only occasionally get cold spikes into the -30c range for a few days at a time at most... but I'll get crucified if the inside temp drops too far (the Mrs will see to that). In the interest of electrification, I'm hoping to get a resistive electric heating system for the alternative heat system. It's not as "efficient" as the heat pump, but when the heat pump won't work because of the extreme cold, it's the next best thing IMO.

I want a battery system because I don't want to be down if the grid goes away, and I want enough battery that we don't have to rush onto the roof every time it snows, to clear the panels else we need to run on grid power.... having some leaway in how much time we have to deal with the problems that might prevent the system from working, will be perfect.