This link has been bookmarked by 50 people . It was first bookmarked on 29 Mar 2006, by Dan Phillips.
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OK, the numbers: suppose you use 1000 gallons of oil to heat your home (that’s how most of us heat here in the Northeast despite the fact that we don’t like refineries). At $3.00/gallon (my guess for next winter), that costs $3000 (duh). According to my favorite government spreadsheet, there are 138,690 BTUs in each gallon of No. 2 fuel oil so you’re buying about 140 million BTUs to keep you warm. However, because even a good furnace is only 78% efficient, only 108 million of those BTUs do you any good. If you were to create all the useful BTUs with conventional electric heat, you’d need to buy about 32,000 kilowatt-hours (3412 BTUs per kWh). At the $.16/kWh we’ll be paying here next winter, that’s $5000 dollars. Stick with oil! But, according to the same spreadsheet, geothermal is 3.3 times as efficient as conventional heat (because you’re just pumping up what you need). With geothermal you’ll need less than 10,000 kWhs and pay about $1500; you save 50% compared to oil! According to Excel, the present value of $1500 per year over 20 years at 6.5% interest (actually your heat pump system should last longer) is a little more than $16,000. If you can get a heat pump system with the capacity you need installed for that amount or less, you’ve got yourself a bargain – no subsidies involved. Actually, if it’s a new installation then you have to take into account what a furnace and fuel tanks would have cost as well. Distributing the heat inside the house is best done with circulating water but can be done with hot air as well. Either you already have a system to do that or you’d need to pay for one anyway. You can also get your domestic hot water from the heat pump and save a little more. If the price of oil goes up faster than electricity, you save more – and vice versa. Can you get geothermal heat with this capacity installed for this amount? Depends. It depends on whether you have land that’s easily dug down into, a well, or a pond. If your ho
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OK, the numbers: suppose you use 1000 gallons of oil to heat your home (that’s how most of us heat here in the Northeast despite the fact that we don’t like refineries). At $3.00/gallon (my guess for next winter), that costs $3000 (duh). According to my favorite government spreadsheet, there are 138,690 BTUs in each gallon of No. 2 fuel oil so you’re buying about 140 million BTUs to keep you warm. However, because even a good furnace is only 78% efficient, only 108 million of those BTUs do you any good. If you were to create all the useful BTUs with conventional electric heat, you’d need to buy about 32,000 kilowatt-hours (3412 BTUs per kWh). At the $.16/kWh we’ll be paying here next winter, that’s $5000 dollars. Stick with oil! But, according to the same spreadsheet, geothermal is 3.3 times as efficient as conventional heat (because you’re just pumping up what you need). With geothermal you’ll need less than 10,000 kWhs and pay about $1500; you save 50% compared to oil! According to Excel, the present value of $1500 per year over 20 years at 6.5% interest (actually your heat pump system should last longer) is a little more than $16,000. If you can get a heat pump system with the capacity you need installed for that amount or less, you’ve got yourself a bargain – no subsidies involved. Actually, if it’s a new installation then you have to take into account what a furnace and fuel tanks would have cost as well. Distributing the heat inside the house is best done with circulating water but can be done with hot air as well. Either you already have a system to do that or you’d need to pay for one anyway. You can also get your domestic hot water from the heat pump and save a little more. If the price of oil goes up faster than electricity, you save more – and vice versa. Can you get geothermal heat with this capacity installed for this amount? Depends. It depends on whether you have land that’s easily dug down into, a well, or a pond. If your ho
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David Corkingvery well written - serial entrepreneur CEO and programmer - writes about business, managing programmers and many other topics. there is also a podcast here, but I haven't looked at that.
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alfredoabambresnothing great has ever been accomplished without irrational exuberance
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