Submission + - Heat pumps twice as efficient as fossil fuel systems in cold weather (theguardian.com) 1
AmiMoJo writes: Heat pumps are more than twice as efficient as fossil fuel heating systems in cold temperatures, research shows. Even at temperatures approaching -30C, heat pumps outperform oil and gas heating systems, according to the research from Oxford University and the Regulatory Assistance Project thinktank. The research, published in the specialist energy research journal Joule, used data from seven field studies in North America, Asia and Europe. It found that at temperatures below zero, heat pumps were between two and three times more efficient than oil and gas heating systems.
Efficiency is important because even when heat pumps use electricity produced from fossil fuels, they require less of them and therefore produce less CO2/pollution.
Efficiency is important because even when heat pumps use electricity produced from fossil fuels, they require less of them and therefore produce less CO2/pollution.
Duh, because it's a heat pump. (Score:1)
Heat pumps have always had a COP greater than 1, even the early crappy ones. The maximum heat you can get out of a fossil fuel system is the amount of energy stored in the fuel. The maximum heat you can get out of a heat pump is the amount of heat it can move from outside to inside for each unit of energy consumed. It turns out that the latter is always better than the former.
Where heat pumps fail is in creating an environment that is actually comfortable to live in. There is never a "warm" feeling with hea