Plug-n-play solutions for home electrification, and options for power outages (Part 2)

There's some pretty cool stuff out there. Speaking of stuff,
Links 'n' stuff:
PART ONE
• Home Electrification: ...
Other videos that popped up in the little clicky things here and there:
My beginner's guide to electric vehicle charging
• A Complete Beginner's ...
A video on Coleman lanterns
• Pressure lamps: gaslig...
My 24-hour Vehicle-to-Load Test Run
• A 24-hour test run of ...
A comparison I did with my old gas stove and a new radiant electric model
• Gas stoves aren't real...
Technology Connextras (my second channel where stuff goes sometimes)
/ @technologyconnextras
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mas.to/@TechConnectify
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00:00 Intro
00:42 A bit more on load management
03:43 Running new wires? Maybe not!
04:58 Heat Pump Water Heaters
07:50 Drawbacks
09:39 Thoughts on tankless water heaters
11:34 Other considerations and drawbacks
15:40 Heat Pump Clothes Dryers
17:41 Drawbacks
19:21 Induction stoves - they're a thing!
20:28 Stoves with Batteries
24:58 Pros and Cons
27:22 Power Outages
29:02 A cheap and huge "battery" you can get anywhere (propane)
29:58 Stuff you can do with propane
31:56 My rationale
33:37 Electric cars which offload stored power
37:05 There are nearly endless options, including your community
39:49 Bloops

[@jajssblue]

I feel like our culture can really underestimate the long term ROI of good infrastructure and planning. I really like your content because it constantly highlights the practical value and steps people can take to improve these investments on their personal level and higher levels of advocacy. Literacy is a great way to change things.

[@Guysm1l3y]

If we could just force everyone to live in the pod and eat the bugs then the world would be saved.

[@ClosestToTheSun]

​@Guysm1l3y oh my God this is the most boring line. I can't believe how quickly you all snapped it up and started repeating it. Just go back to calling everybody else sheeple or something

[@nathanielrichards750]

If only we were talking about good infrastructure and planning. This is pretty much the opposite of that.

[@SquintyGears]

It's not culture. Humans are pretty bad at estimating likelihood when it's long term or when it's a vague concept. Like the health risk of smoking, it's a 1/10 chance of causing your death down the line.

[@matt697845]

​@Nathaniel Richards How about I'm a God damn American and I'll burn 350 amps at 5pm on a Tuesday afternoon on August if I damn well please. Never cow tow to environmentalists, not one inch.

[@radio4active]

Just so you know, heat pump dryers often come with a connector on the back to dump the water. Since you usually install this next to your washing machine, there's a good chance that dumping that water down the drain is an easy option because a waste water pipe is already there. This leaves only the lint trap as the maintenance requirement. And if you have a front loading washing machine, you can put the dryer on top of it and have the water gravity fed into the pipe without a pump

[@gordonshamwey3442]

I own this typ of dryer and use it like discribe. It is important to consider that both machines pump the waste water out, so I need to use a solution that prevent that one machine is pumping its water into the other. A plug with a flow control valve does this fine.

[@MaxSixty-Three]

You're a genius

[@airborne2876]

Yeah, but the heat pump drier produces so little water. Setting up something like that wouldn't be worth it.

[@boxr_4214]

@@airborne2876 sure, it doesn’t produce much water, but i’d rather do the extra work for the drain and just forget about it.

[@greasy5213]

my guy

[@cookyourkids]

I have the exact Miele dryer shown in the explanatory animation. The increased drying time really isn't a big deal and it's *maybe* 2x, certainly not 3x. This is improved by having paired it with the latest washer of theirs which does a tremendous job of extracting water at the end of the cycle. The dryer is definitely kinder to clothes, never getting nearly as hot and so not cooking them. The lint filter system is really excellent, the best designed I've ever encountered. It does a really good job capturing the lint and also sand which is handy as we live on the beach of Lake Michigan and have a lot of sand show up in our laundry. The water can be sent into a drain hose instead of having to empty a tank periodically, so if you plumb that in (and why wouldn't you if there's a washer right there) it isn't a thing.

[@jimmyc7269]

Not sure why people say they have increased drying time. I have a Miele as well and it takes about 30-40 minutes for a load, compared to about 60 minutes on every other conventional gas dryer I've used, including commercial ones. I don't do a lot of laundry at a time though so perhaps that is the reason. I just drain the water to the sink next to it.

[@Devin_Stromgren]

@@jimmyc7269 Those people probably always run their dryer on the highest heat, significantly reducing the lifespan of their clothing in the process.

[@dont_hit_trees]

My LG took 6 hours and destroyed the clothes in every setting. Absolute waste of money.

[@tami6867]

i once had to reteofit a drain to such a clothesdryer. So stupid that it did not has that by default. It was really easy to retrofit, and from that day on, there was no wett floor anymore due to students constantly forgetting to empty the reservoir out befor using the dryer.

[@ghost-gamer4826]

@cookyourkids As someone who only ever used heat pump dryer and coming from a country where the new instalation of exhaust dryers is no longer allowed for quite some years I can only agree. The extra lint filtration is certainly nice when you see what kind of stuff is captured in there which else would still be in your clothes. Also emptying the tank and cleaning the lint meshes takes about the same time as filling detergent into the washing machine so not much of a problem there. On the note of emptying tanks, I am farily certain there are some that can be plumbed directly into a drain, my parents have it set up like that if I remeber correctly. Also time wise, I can't remeber how long it took but I lived with 12-14 people in a house for two weeks and we did 1-3 loads of laundry per day, never had any problems time wise while using an honestly almost 10 year old domestic heat pump dryer.

[@Riotmakertk]

Heat-pump tumble dryers are so common in the UK you get washing machine combi-units with them in all local appliance retailers. Not only that but they're cheap, mine was just £300 and uses a standard power outlet. Big life saver in a flat with climate control. I also love the more premium features such as humidity and tempreature control to dry almost anything.

[@waqasahmed939]

£300 is very cheap. The cheapest one I saw was £360 and the cheapest A+++ one is like £480 which also is pretty decent imo If buying brand new, I'd personally opt for : An A rated washing machine, with a 1600rpm spin An A+++ tumble dryer that has reverse action too. That helps cut down costs considerably. This is what I did when I bought my house in July of last year I've noticed that the tumble dryer is actually using less energy than my washing machine. It used even less as the days got warmer I used it a couple of days ago, and it used barely any power. It was essentially warm enough outside that my clothes would dry quickly but also I've got solar panels, and I was like "I can either export this for pennies, or I can just use that energy" so I figured I may as well use it

[@jonnycando]

@@waqasahmed939 if I ever get solar, I will export NONE of it….it will all be MINE!

[@mrblc882]

I bought combi-unit in Croatia, but when I did research, I didn't even found any trace of existence of heat-pump tumble dyers.

[@eknkc]

We have them in Turkey too and they are getting cheaper. Also the newer models have drain pipes that can drain the water tank automatically. Most people stack them on top of washing machines so you alread have a drain around.

[@mrblc882]

@@eknkc heat pump dryer yes, but I never saw heat pump combi-unit.

[@kadmii]

living in an older house in the northeast US has been making me think more and more about "what can I replace this with when it goes?" and these videos have given a lot of food for thought

[@needfuldoer4531]

Definitely do all the weatherization upgrades you can first. (Air sealing the attic and rim joist made a huge difference for me.) Once you've got your potential consumption down, then turn an eye to your furnace.

[@williamlancto3655]

@@needfuldoer4531 Depends on what is required to seal+insulate and what your current fuel source is. Retrofitting very old homes that you can find in the northeast US with good air sealing can get very expensive, mine is a good example. I live in a 250 year old home with wood siding and no form of house wrap for most of the house, meaning in many areas any small gap in the clapboards can let the cold winter winds go right into the wall cavities, negating a LOT of the comparatively thin insulation we do have (2x4 exterior walls). Fixing that would require removing all the existing wood siding to wrap the house and replace it with all new siding. Wood siding isn't cheap to install or paint. There are ways to do it from the inside with foam-board installed between the studs against the sheathing, but that would involve completely gutting every exterior wall. Then we have our dirt basement+crawlspace which needs to be full encapsulated before we can add more attic insulation without risking mold issues. Compared to ALL that putting in a heat pump can give you a big reduction in heating costs immediately if you are heating with propane, oil or resistive electric. In our case that was a roughly 40% drop in heating costs last year and 20% this year (electricity went up a ton) And remember many heatpumps have variable inverter driven compressors, so getting the heatpump before doing all the insulation and air sealing is less likely to give you issues from having an oversized unit like a furnace or single stage AC would.

[@TheMysteryDriver]

@@williamlancto3655ya. Same here. To insulate the attic would cost thousands. It'll be a decade or so before we break even on the cost of running an ac unit up there during the warm months. No issues during the cold. The guy that came to give an estimate even told us not to do it lol

[@SomePotato]

@@williamlancto3655 Thank you. Here in Germany, where it gets comparatively cold during the winter months, so many people claim that a heat pump is basically useless unless your house is incredibly well insulated. And we are talking about our typical solid brick houses. It's nice to read some positive stories.

[@wilfriedklaebe]

@@SomePotato they're talking bullshit... Heat pumps have been useful already in the 1950s...

[@DavidCiani]

It's proably a pipe dream/not efficent for a residence, but the concept of centralizing all of the heat pumps from around the house into a single system has always fascinated me. Air handlers, hydronic heating, domestic hot water heater, refrigerator, freezer, etc. all hooked up to a single thermal energy management system that can intelligently move energy around based on where it's needed (or not needed). Throw in a geothermal ground loop too!

[@vonBlankenburgLP]

In Europe, this is called a local heating network. It is used to heat entire settlements from a central combined heat and power plant.

[@calebweldon8102]

I’ve dreamed of the e same thing, imagine the refrigerator moving heat to the outside rather than inside in summer or to the dryer

[@eDoc2020]

There are already systems which do most of this. On a recent series of This Old House they installed a Mitsubuishi system which does home heating/cooling and water heating.

[@chad2787]

I've given good thought to this, too. I think this can work well in a warm climate. For instance, I have always wondered why there are no mass market options for using waste heat from summer air conditioning to heat a pool or water tank. However, in cold climates I think the obstacle is that air source heat pump tech cannot really keep up with heating demand unless grossly oversized. Electricity in such regions tends to be quite expensive, so gas continues to reign as a cheap, plentiful heating source. Frankly, I shudder to think what it would cost to heat a house in February in a place like Syracuse, NY with only heat pump tech.

[@Z4KIUS]

I'd love to run hot pipes in the floor and cold ones in the ceiling to make use of convection for both heating and cooling

[@tristanridley1601]

As a Canadian this was fascinating. Everyone I know has always used electric stoves and dryers, so understanding where you guys are coming from is a challenge. This helped. If power outages a really a common thing, then you all should consider having a responsible organization take over your power grid. Significant outages are so rare here they each get wikipedia articles, and storms that cause hundreds of downed lines have all the damage repaired in a day or two, if you're unlucky.

[@GuardedDragon]

The bit where he was talking about “all electric homes” I was thinking “huh? you mean like… a normal home?”

[@Raidou_]

That is nice in places with private energy companies, but coming from the place I live Mexico where basically all the essentials (water, electricity and gas) is handle by the state, every time there's an outage we just can only bitch about it on the internet and hope they fix it fast, which in some places is never fast. I like this idea of a full electric house but I feel it will be a really hard transition over here.

[@rikwisselink-bijker]

@@Raidou_ Private is not a golden bullet. It depends on the context. It might mean an improvement for Mexico, but if I look at how it works in Texas, I don't think privatization is a fool-proof plan.

[@Arkangel630]

Having a competent group managing it is the key, the style of the organization matters little as long as its competent and this is often determined by competition between multiple different entities which is why private systems tend to have better outcomes.

[@KaliTragus]

A day or two for power restoration? Talk to someone from Atlantic Canada sometime. We weren't even directly hit by Fiona and didn't have power for two weeks.

[@wotireckon]

Now officially my favourite KZbin channel! A constantly rolling mountain of incredibly useful information! As a builder with a very keen eye on the future, watching these videos is pure manna from heaven! Please keep 'em coming - everyone desperately needs this sort of education!

[@sicarianduraznac]

This channel has caused me to drastically redesign the house I was saving up to build.

[@blendpinexus1416]

a little here too. maybe nit as drastic as yours but a few things got shuffled around and the backup generator for the house got downsized too

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Stick solar on the roof and have a wall 'o LiFePo4. Just get it set up by somebody who knows what they are doing. I was all for jerry-rigging my own system with mid-priced Chinesium, when I came across a video by somebody who saw bizarre behaviour and then a fire even from his top-brand Battle Borns. Or stick solar on the roof and use an all-in-one like a Bluetti for now, and wait for sodium-ion, which will be a game-changer for home backup.

[@Transgenic86]

You and me both. Been planning on a remodel for a few years now. Definitely using recommendations from these videos as considerations in my design.

[@tom-sn4gd]

@@worldcomicsreview354 Yeah, be carrefull with battery powered by solar, a datacenter in France burned down last week because of a human error while connecting the batteries of a solar installation (that were LiFePo4)

[@buddyclem7328]

Could you tell us more about your home plans? I often think about how I could save energy at home, but I don't yet own my own home.

[@xXfzmusicXx]

As someone living in a country (Norway) that barely uses gas, and where electricity is not only available in vast quantities, but also mostly renewable (don't remember exact numbers, but it's at least >90%) all of this is fascinating to me. I had no idea how much Americans used gas. While I knew gas stoves were popular I didn't realize you use it for heating for example. Great video!

[@okaro6595]

Yes, it is strange. In Finland gas is locally used mainly on stoves. It also is used to produce electricity and district heating. Originally they used city gas but 30 years ago they switched to natural gas.

[@johncoops6897]

They use it for drying clothes too. The Americans are very non-progressive in regards to their own homes. You can see that in the outdated fixtures and fittings, the furnishing styles and construction materials too.

[@kibels894]

Electricity is very inefficient for heating unless you add the complexity of a heat pump. Running gas furnace costs like $30/mo, a resistive heater would cost like $300/mo

[@xXfzmusicXx]

@@kibels894 A large majority of people use heat pumps or geothermal heating here. Mostly just apartments that uses anything else, most older buildings use central water heating, so it gets heated and then sent throughout the building

[@anthonyfn]

Stoves, water heaters, dryers, and furnaces run on natural gas in the US. In my area natural gas is piped like water, you connect your home and have it available plus it's very cheap. I spend about $100 dollars/month for heating a large home, doing laundry for a family of 5, showers, and cooking at home 5 to 6 days a week.

[@evolv.e]

15:40 our family bought a heat pump dryer 3 years ago. Costs very little to operate and still going strong. I love that this video (and this channel for that matter) goes over some great information and viable energy saving options.

[@ZZ-sb8os]

How long does it take for a full load to dry?

[@samhartley6154]

@@ZZ-sb8os Takes mine slightly less than 2 hours for a full load (7KG - limit of my washing machine). 3 and a bit hours if packed to the very brim beyond what they say it should. Very mid-range model - Bosch WTH85222GB

[@advanceringnewholder]

did you know moving heat require less energy to create the same amount of heat?

[@electrictroy2010]

@advanceringnewholder Obviously

[@jacobtothe2112]

I appreciate the honesty about pros and cons, up-front costs versus operating costs, regional needs, and other nuances ignored by the hype-it-up crowd. I am very rural and power outages happen during summer and winter storms. Diesel and gas generators, backup propane stoves, wood-fueled furnaces, and so forth are common as a result. But progress should be embraced where it is most beneficial first, and then the rest of us can benefit later.

[@MattOckendon]

You are absolutely spot on about induction cooking. After 5 years I could never go back to gas or resistive heating. Boiling the biggest pot full of water in the time it takes to find some pasta is life changing!

[@JensPilemandOttesen]

Try a Quooker life change #2

[@SomePotato]

I love arguing with people who claim that gas is preferable to induction. Invite me to your next party, I'm fun!

[@androiduberalles]

@@SomePotato I'm convinced that people that think gas is better for cooking have just inhaled too much carbon monoxide.

[@mvonsmallhausen3221]

Induction is so much better it's not even funny. Gas seems like just a refined bonfire compared to that.

[@CaveyMoth]

It's especially great when you use an electric kettle to warm up the water first, and then add it to a pan on an induction stove. Thanks for this idea, Technology Connections! I can boil water so quickly!

[@conqu2]

Really happy you included the part about building resilience through communities at the end -- an important and consistently overlooked aspect of how we approach challenges throughout the U.S.

[@zandkoek]

And it’s definitely realistic. Here in the Netherlands I experienced my first power outage in my life a few months ago, and it was fixed within 2 hours.

[@TheMysteryDriver]

@@zandkoekin the US when we have decent power outages the power is back within a few hours. Only time it took longer was a hurricane (which didn't change my power availability) and when an animal crawled into a transformer.

[@tim3172]

@@TheMysteryDriver Your experience is not everyone's experience. We had a major windstorm which took out most of the area and power was out for as many as 19 days for some of Northern Virginia. It happened during a relatively-nice time with minimal AC requirements. If it happened during one of our 104 degree (or 14 degree) periods it would have been a disaster.

[@tanya5322]

@@TheMysteryDriver living in rural Minnesota, I’ve had power out for… I think it was about 6 days one winter. Freezing rain and strong winds took out lots of overhead power lines. Once immediately dangerous downed lines had been made safe… though not necessarily repaired… repairs were triaged so that the repair that would restore power to the most customers (or the most vulnerable, such as senior care facilities or barns with vulnerable livestock) before repairs that would restore power for just a few. Yes, most power outages are repaired within a few hours, but that isn’t something I count on as an absolute

[@Xanthelei]

​@@TheMysteryDriver I also grew up rural in the US (hmm sensing a theme here...) and we'd very often go for two to four days without power due to winter storms at least once per winter. Our problem was we were on a dead end line, so a single break in the line meant everything past it was just dead. And we were still on that dead end line decades after it was run because there were only about 100 households off it, and it was many miles long. During one winter with a LOT of flooding, power was out for over a week for us, and our typical outage affected the majority of the local cities as crews tried to do repairs amidst flooding and landslides. When the power was out, our little valley would band together to make sure everyone was OK. One neighbor had his own well dug specifically so he could harden it against the power outages since we didn't have the space around the shared well,and he made sure we had access to water. My house had the best setup for cooking without power, so some nights we'd have four households potlucking. Another neighbor kept things plowed and passable with his small Catapillar tractor. That's the kind of community action being talked about at the end of the video, not power companies and government agencies.

[@ShukenFlash]

Your video on induction cooktops finally pushed me to pick up a portable one for my camper. (I'm full-time in it due to constantly traveling from project to project for work.) For anyone still doubting them I can confirm that compared to the propane-powered that's built into the camper, the induction cooktop does indeed cook faster. It also releases far less heat into the camper then the propane stove, which is fantastic when it's hot out, less load for the AC to struggle against. I also don't have to run fans and blow all of my nice conditioned air outside in order to remove all the combustion products. I regret waiting several months to get it.

[@ShukenFlash]

Speaking of propane, I've absolutely fallen in love with the dual-fuel electric/propane water heater on my camper. Most of the time if I'm hooked up to a sufficient power supply I just leave it on electric like a normal electric water heater. If I'm say visiting friends or family and only have a 15 amp socket to plug into (or I'm somewhere with no power hookup at all) I can simply run it on propane. Perhaps it's because party trick is running both at once though. Propane mode is slightly more powerful than electric mode, running both together is roughly twice as powerful as either one alone. Personally I'd love to have a hybrid propane and heat pump water heater. Most of the time it could sit there squirreling away a little bit of excess heat (especially good since most campers are only used in warm weather) then if the demand was high it could simply kick on the propane for a boost. As is, with no heat pumps for the water heater or heating, I already have essentially all the comforts I did in my last apartment, while being limited to merely 30 amps. I barely have to consider my power usage aside from making sure I don't run say the microwave, hot plate, and air conditioner all of the same time, which is easy enough to do. With a smart breaker panel of some sort and heat pumps for the water heater and heating that 30 amps could be stretched even farther.

[@ShukenFlash]

Also, having used both electric resistive heat and the propane furnace in my camper for heating I've noted that depending on the exact price of electricity and propane at wherever I'm at propane usually just breaks even with electric resistive heating. If I had even a simple heat pump in my rooftop unit it would be far more cost-efficient to heat with electricity than propane. When the unit I have eventually dies I'm already planning on replacing it with the heat pump version of the same unit. If I had the choice I would have gladly paid the extra $200 to have the heat pump version from the accurate. It would have paid for itself already in under a year just from heating the camper over this past winter

[@dljon]

We bought an induction range after first trying the portable unit and have been quite happy with it. As you say, the only downside is that we had to buy several new pans. We always bring a magnet now when going to a kitchen supply store! Many of the newer pans are induction ready and say so on the package

[@Ergzay]

Hey David, just letting you know but the pot doesn't need to be magnetic to work. Copper cookware will work just fine on an induction stove even though it's not magnetic. It just need to be conductive.

[@Serena-or7sl]

They also sell adapters for the old pans! Did you try one of those? I have a couple of pans that are not induction ready and I would prefer to keep them

[@MrPaukann]

@@Ergzay, no, it needs to be ferromagnetic for the vast majority of induction cookers. Copper and aluminium won't work, it needs to have steel in the bottom.

[@Descriptor413]

@@MrPaukann This is true for most induction stoves at the moment, but the technology is rapidly catching up! Induction stoves rely on induction (naturally) to induce currents in the metal cookware. This works for any type of metal cookware in the same way that two coils of wire induce currents in each other regardless of what metal they are made of. The problem is getting this current to produce heating. Copper and aluminum is very low resistance, so the induced currents don't generate much heat. That's why we use them for wiring, after all! But for a cooking surface, that's less ideal. I believe it can also be dangerous for an induction stove, since it creates a very low resistance load which leads to a high current draw from the source (I = V/R, after all). The reason ferromagnetic metals work for induction actually isn't so much due to their magnetic properties (although that certainly has an effect in terms of guiding the magnetic fields into the heating surface), but rather that they have a much more pronounced skin-effect (which admittedly is due to their magnetic properties, but in a more roundabout way). Without getting into too much detail, skin effect is the tendency for current in a metal to stick to the outer surface of the metal as the frequency of the current driving signal increases. This is useful here because it means that less of the metal is being used to hold the current, and thus the effective resistance of the surface increases! It's kinda like the difference between driving an Amp of current through a thick wire and a thin wire. The thin wire will heat up a lot more (which is why heavy current draws can be so dangerous!). For Al and Cu, this skin effect doesn't become pronounced until far higher frequencies than for ferrous cookware. However, thanks to continuing advances in commercial power RF technology, induction stovetops are being released that can now reach these frequencies! So look forward to that in the future!

[@MrPaukann]

@@Descriptor413 >rather that they have a much more pronounced skin-effect (which admittedly is due to their magnetic properties Yes, and this class of materials is called ferromagnetics >induction stovetops are being released that can now reach these frequencies! So look forward to that in the future! That's why I said "for the vast majority of induction cooker", not "for all cookers"

[@TaquitoAddict]

One option I'd like to point out is an Air Fryer. They are essentially miniature convection oven that runs off of a standard outlet, and can cook meals using a fraction of the energy of a conventional electric oven. For small families, they can replace the oven for a vast majority of cooking.

[@padraicfanning7055]

Essentially, Easy-Bake for adults.

[@dwizzyvid]

Good point! Single household, I use my oven practically only when baking pizza or cake and mostly when there's enough green electricity. Vegetables I try to steam in the microwave, less heat and nutrient loss compared to a pan

[@Xanthelei]

I'm now imagining someone trying to bake a cake or banana bread (the two most often use cases besides fries) in an air fryer.

[@theodoreslavo5385]

Add in the fact there are also combi air fryer/pressure cooker units as well. The problem quickly turns more into "Will I have enough counterspace" lol

[@pluieuwu]

true! i pretty much stopped using my oven after getting an air fryer since i never bake anything that won't fit in an air fryer, and the fact that i can put it anywhere is just awesome. (also, smaller size -> less preheating required!!)

[@DeanGallea]

About load-sharing: I once wired my A/C condenser and outdoor hot-tub heater to the same 40A circuit, with a simple 24-volt two-pole relay in the condenser housing that gave it priority. The rationale, aside from saving a long run of 8-gauge copper, was that if it was hot enough to need the A/C, you wouldn't mind if the hot tub was a bit cooler.

[@AgentOffice]

Smart

[@KyleAckerProductions]

Having moved into a larger house a year ago I have been doing as much as I can to lower my usage of natural gas and just power in general. These videos are a huge help in seeing the options that are out there

[@dylanbrooks546]

Always so interesting watching these videos. In Australia we don't really have heating systems (cuz its hot!) and our electrical system is 240v but the alternate viewpoint and constraints are great to challenge what we consider 'normal' in terms of keeping ourselves alive/comfortable/not on fire.

[@purple_watermelon7326]

Depends where you are. Reverse cycles are becoming more common in Canberra. Im pretty sure mains is 230Vrms nowadays as well for most states. I guess it helps that our standard 100A service in Aus nets you twice as much power as America.

[@Andoryuuu]

I live down in Melbourne and you best believe we have a good heating system in this house (four separate ones in total, two smaller space heaters for specific rooms, a reverse cycle heat pump hot/cold air con in the living room and gas ducted heating throughout the house.) We don't use them frequently or for very long periods, but they're there for when they're needed, and sometimes they're very much needed. What I find strange about these videos on the US electrical system is the fact that water heaters and dryers seem so implausible off of anything but gas in the US when over here you just plonk a drier onto a standard outlet, usually the exact same outlet as your washing machine, and run both at the same time with no issue, while also running many other things. I think it's time they looked into maybe standardising 240 at least for the main appliances and having it be something required in the laundry/basement of the house so that those areas are there if needed. They definitely need a revamp of their systems because you can't even boil a kettle without it taking a significant amount of time from a powerpoint there and that just seems absurd to me, lol.

[@anymancandoitwiththerightools]

I love how well researched your videos are! As someone in HVAC for over 20 years.. I can say everything you've said is true.. and I also would to agree that not every hvac firm is down with heat pumps.. we are tho.. it's all we install anymore.

[@davedoe6445]

Why would HVAC installers be against heat pumps? Seems like a car mechanic being against cars?

[@raygunsforronnie847]

@@davedoe6445 More like a car mechanic that doesn't want to learn about servicing hybrid or electric vehicles. For HVAC the opposition may come from the more complex control wiring and additional components in the refrigerant chain confuse them.

[@larrywest42]

​@@davedoe6445 As a purchaser of a HPWH last year, I would guess it's partly staying with what they know. And if they're keeping busy with what they know, it takes a forward-thinking owner - or incentives - to get any business to start transitioning. Our plumbing company (large) seemed to have one guy who really understood the technology and the models available, and he was careful to make sure we were a good fit, and were aware of consumer incentives. The plumber doing the installation didn't need any special training as far as I could tell, though.

[@davedoe6445]

@@raygunsforronnie847 It's sad how much humans hurt themselves by being unwilling (or unable) to learn or try new things.

[@davidtubesing79]

I know when I wanted to do a heat pump here in Minnesota it was a nightmare trying to get an HVAC installer to understand why I wanted one (no natural gas here, and if I had natural gas I do agree that a heat pump gets a little silly if you are not thinking long-term).

[@rikwisselink-bijker]

One thing I saw suggested in a comment on a previous video: apparently you can get metal plates you can attach to you not-induction-compatible cookware. That puck will heat up with the induction, which then transfers the heat to your pots and pans. Obviously you add the transmission losses and you have this weird adapter thing, but if you can't afford anything else, this could help out. (although second hand stores are surprisingly cheap in my experience)

[@newunderthesun7353]

I cook for a living and find induction absolutely horrible.

[@votefornormality]

@@newunderthesun7353 Must be why you don't see them in restaurants or in restaurant suppliers.

[@krmr]

​@@votefornormality There's restaurants who do induction on purpose, makes for a safer working environment with less latent heat.

[@IslandC0der]

@@newunderthesun7353 Why?

[@newunderthesun7353]

@@IslandC0der Let me be clear, there is a place for induction, just not yet in commercial restaurant kitchens as a primary cooking option. Here are some reasons why: 1) Chefs prefer to use aluminum, copper and stainless steel pans for certain food items. They choose these pans for heat control - the pans heat and cool quickly which gives them control over what is cooking in the pan. Adding a ferrous base to the pan makes the pan heavier and harder to control the heat - it heats and cools slower. 2) Induction, even with a 220v circuit, is much slower to heat a pan than gas. I have a 220 v cooktop and it is impossible to boil water, let alone stock. 3) My professional induction cooktop has an induction coil that is only 9" in diameter. This means on my 12" wide stockpots, the heat will still be concentrated into that 9 inches, which makes for a slow and uneven heating of the pot. 4) Gas provides instant temperature control with a simple twist of the gas knob. There is a long delay with temperature changes with induction. 5) It is impossible to use real Woks or other specialty cookware with induction. A real Wok has a rounded base and uses a special frame over the gas flame to hold the Wok. Check out The French Guy cooking channel and watch his episode on cooking with a Wok. Many French sauces require copper cookware, which cannot be used on induction. The copper, as stated elsewhere here, is used for precise temperature control. Removing the pan from the flame, even for a few seconds, changes the temperature of the pan. 6) Some techniques such as charring or flambeeing are nearly impossible with induction. Even tossing items in the pan, which is a way of not just turning the food over, but is how temperature is controlled, can cause the induction cooktop to sound an alarm or turn off due to the lack of the pan contacting the cooktop. Induction cooktops have a magnetic switch under the cooktop. A magnet is attracted to the ferrous base and stays suspended to the underside of the cooktop. When the pan is removed, the magnet drops and activates a switch that turns off the cooktop. That is a gross oversimplificaiton, but that's how it works. 7) In Chicago, where I live, and in most other big cities, very few restaurants are built from scratch, most new restaurants take over restaurants that closed or went out of business. Or if a new restaurant is built into new space, the budget is limited. So even if you want to use induction, retrofitting an existing restaurant is extremely expensive. And if you're just starting out, the added cost of induction over gas is generally not in the budget. That said, there is a place for induction. Induction is great for the home or restaurant if you're making eggs or pancakes. I acutally have a portable induction cooktop that I use for cooking classes on my counter. I use it daily for those foods. It would also be useful to simmer a pot of soup or a big batch of tomato sauce - as long as you don't have to bring anything to a boil. My 220 v cooktop just sucks at bringing stock pots to a boil, even if it's just water. I was recently in Florence Italy and Paris France. I visited new restaurants in both cities. In Florance, the new steak house we visited did indeed have no gas cooktops. They built, instead, a rack of wood fired cooktops. They had five chefs lined up cooking steaks over actual fire pits. Then to the side they had a couple of induction stations for stock pots simmering. In France the restaurant we visited had five new wood fired ovens, a bunch of gas stoves and induction stations. So I guess each method is not exclusive of the other, and each has it's place in the kitchen. Lastly, don't believe that myth about how the cooktop does not get hot to the touch. If you have a pot on the induction surface that you bring to 200 degrees, the surface of the cooktop, from the heat of the pot, will also be 200 degrees. If you touch it you will get burned.

[@Hippo0529]

Thanks as always for making. You do a great job of showing how proablems can be solved with what we have available today while also not having to make a sacrifice of usability.

[@weirderthan]

I love my washer + dryer combo (with heat pump) and it was less expensive than buying both separately. You can also wash and dry without having to move anything! (the lint does show up around the opening of the washer, but that can just be vacuumed easily)

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I'm not even close to owning my own home yet, but I'm glad I'm being informed about these sorts of things early on. It'll definitely make things easier a lot further down the line.

[@waqasahmed939]

@@TheGripsion. No

[@Longbowgun]

If I had really though about what features I wanted (namely: solar panels) in my home before building it, I wouldn't even have had gas run to the house. In order to change the gas appliances out I'll have to spend big bucks. :(

[@JamesSmith-qs4hx]

You'll own nothing and be happy.

[@berndarndt9924]

@@Longbowgun Air to Air heat pumps are rather cheap nowdays and you can import solar panels from china for very little money yourself. Induction cookers are also a lot better than gas stoves. In general it mostly makes sense to change out gas appliances when they break aka when you need to spend big bucks anyway.

[@MrxxVENUSxx]

@@JamesSmith-qs4hx Do you have nothing better to do?

[@backseatgaming2145]

I tried induction for cooking and now it's my favorite. Bonus points for having different protections against improper use and a built-in timer to not burn your food in case you get distracted and forget that it's there. Ikea has a nice selection of induction compatible cookware that i'm pretty happy with.

[@trissylegs]

They are also extremely good at simmering. Having something cook slowly over a long time is easier on induction than gas.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@trissylegs even resistive electric is fantastic at simmering with no burning :) it’s all about the minimum heat output of a flame, electric can regulate lower

[@randomvideosn0where]

@@kaitlyn__L Depending on the controls...mine was an on/off cycle that went between burning and too cool.

[@drumguy1384]

Induction is amazing! Control is so granular and the reaction is almost instantaneous. Auto-off when you remove the pan is cool too. Another cool thing I learned is that any ferrous (magnetic) metal is compatible. So both cast iron and anything with a steel bottom will work. I thought that my cast iron would be wasted, but it worked better than ever! Unfortunately, the fancy copper bottom pots I had for conventional heat were a no-go. So I got a pot and pan with thick steel bottoms and they worked like a charm. Beware "induction compatible" aluminum cookware though ... they basically achieve that by putting little steel plugs in the bottom of the pan which results in weak performance and uneven heating.

[@AstoundingAmelia]

@@drumguy1384 for those copper ones you can get plates that allow them to work

[@tomdibble8983]

Glad to see the realistic (in my experience at least) lighting of that Coleman lantern in the credits! I was super-jealous when yours started on the first click.

[@TandBKount]

Thank you for all of the content you create. For me, you are the missing link in education and I enjoy how much you've taught me and opened my eyes and mind to things I wouldn't have considered. I've been watching your channels for several years. In a good way, it showcases the gap in standard American education for basic knowledge that we all should have and is taught in many other countries. I'm a 38yo female with a standard public school education, grew up in N.MI but have lived in Central Texas for about 15yrs.

[@TrossachsPhoto]

Condenser dryers are quite common here in the UK, but I've just bought a second-hand heat pump dryer which takes the same space as a condenser, but thanks to the knowledge gained from your many many many useful discussions on heat pumps, a fraction of the resistive heating cost. I paid £150 for a 4 month old heat pump dryer.

[@McPebbster]

I’m so stupid! I thought „oh wow what a great new technology!“ but reading your comment I realised we had condenser dryers for ages in Germany as well! I just didn’t make the connection to „heat pump dryer“.

[@TrossachsPhoto]

@@McPebbster Condenser dryers use resistive heat and a blower to achieve the same thing, dry the air, blow it through damp clothes, absorb the moisture, and pass it over fins to cool and condense the moisture. But the key point here is that it's resistive heat. Heat pump dryers look almost identical to condensers, but steal the heat instead of making it, but still have the same tank and filters that condensers have. Or another way, Traditional Condenser dryers share much the same technology as Heat Pump Dryers, just the way and cost of it generating the drying part is different.

[@johncoops6897]

Even Aldi had a heat pump dryer for sale recently here in Sydney Australia. They are becoming very common here, since the payback period is extremely short compared to resistive drivers.

[@timseguine2]

I was confused for a moment about the difference between these two types of dryers because I thought they were the same. But then I did a little research and figured out that the reason I was confused is because heat pump dryers are sometimes confusingly labeled in Germany as "Condenser dryers with heat pump technology".

[@benjaminfranklin329]

​@@johncoops6897 we missed the aldi sale, bought one elsewhere and it still paid itself off before the next aldi sale... The payback period can really be that short

[@UndecidedMF]

Great video as usual. Nice to see the idea of battery powered ranges heating up.

[@monkeyoperator1360]

my concern is batteries and heat do not go together

[@tim3172]

@@monkeyoperator1360 The oven is thermally insulated from the lower drawer. You can try it yourself by turning the oven on and then open the drawer. It should barely be hotter (if at all) than the surrounding air. The oven handle is likely to be hotter than the inside if the drawer.

[@PHamster]

Im surprised the Heat Pump water heaters is different than EEVBlog Dave Jones.

[@seattlebitcoinbroker6564]

Two of my favorite content creators in one place. I'll be damned. Thank you both for all that you do.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

​@@tim3172 It shouldn't even need much insulation, heat rises and the battery is underneath the hot bit. In fact, as heat rises, surrounding air might get sucked in and actually slightly cool the battery compartment!

[@notfirefox599]

"The power of the grid," a practical phrase and an unintended Tron Legacy reference

[@johnsmith6024]

You're videos on heat pumps convinced me to change over my new ( to me ) house before hot weather really hit this year. I live in eastern KY and knew that packed heat pumps were a thing. I even knew mini splits existed since I drive over the road truck and had seen them here and there. But I didn't know mini splits could be up to the task of taking care of a whole house because every time I had seen them they were small units for just a single small office at shippers/receivers. I also didn't know just how cheap you could get them for. So last fall when we moved into our new house that had no AC since the last owners used window units and I found out that the old duct work for the resistive heat furnace literaly had holes in it I started looking for solutions. That's when I found you're videos. We now have 3 single head 110v 12k btu units I bought off eBay for $500 a piece and installed myself. So far they've been working great even for heat. Now that I have these things I'm like you and wondering why they aren't everywhere?

[@sergiomendez9231]

What a great solution to your problem! $500 a piece with self installation!? You must've saved some serious dough with that!

[@fensoxx]

I love the higher output you seem to be putting out. Please keep a good healthy balance for yourself but it is so great to watch your content more often. You’re really good at this and appreciated! Thank you!

[@SunicroVR]

Gas water heaters is actually a thing here in western europe, and in the Netherlands (where i live) we use that same device to heat our homes with by running pipes to radiators. the newer devices have a very small boiler built in, and an option to keep it warm, so you always have instant hot water.

[@willembos8367]

Not a boiler, but a heat exchanger.

[@iandouglas4992]

@@willembos8367 no the op is talking about a combi boiler. We have them in Canada.

[@ioanghip]

We also use them in Romania as well. Many people also have solar water heaters on the roof and connected to the hot water circuit. Also heat pump dryers.

[@gg_vard]

​@@ioanghip solar panel water heater, the best solution in sunny Greece, too

[@PORKCHOPSH]

I genuinely get excited when I see a new video from this channel because I know I'm going to learn something that has actual value and relevance.

[@stillthakoolest]

Just be careful, some appliances/loads such as central heating equipement ARE required to be on an individual (dedicated) branch circuit, according to the NEC

[@Descriptor413]

To be fair, if you have an existing heat pump air conditioner, then you already have that circuit in the house anyway, which I think was the crux of his point.

[@fuchsy4498]

I live in Germany and we have a water heater with a heat pump (it only runs in the summer, in winter we still use a wood stove). It's close to the entrance and thereby cools the entrance. Its always so nice when you get inside in the middle of the summer because thir room stays at around 20°C.

[@mishXY]

I have Fernwärme (~remote heat) - water and heating are done centrally for all apartments using heat pumped in from a ecological garbage burning plant. Gets rid of trash and provides cheap heat and no fossil fuels enter the building

[@littlejackalo5326]

They still let you use a wood stove in Germany? I thought the govt wanted to outlaw that. Another thing that Germans can tell the rest of the world is "sTriCtLy fOrbiDdEn iN gErMaNy."

[@johncoops6897]

Here in Australia we hardly need to heat the water in summer, and small rooftop hot water units are very common. It"s often a challenge to draw off enough hot water to prevent boiling and purging in the mid summer 😂 These systems use a gas or electric booster for the worst of winter. So we can't use our water heaters for cooling LOL

[@fuchsy4498]

@@johncoops6897 well, that's oviously a very cheap way to make very sustainable hot water. And your house will probably still warm up less because the sun isn't hitting your roof directly, although the effect probably depends a lot on your usage of the space underneath the roof.

[@johncoops6897]

@@fuchsy4498 - we commonly use roof cavity ventilation. They usually have thermally-controlled vents, to let hot air escape and draw cool air in thru vents in the eaves. My own place used a thermost and a shuttered fan at the apex, as I found the passive system needed too many ugly top-hat vents on the roof. It used legible power, I think it was like 60W when it was running, maybe $40 per year.

[@HeadsetGuy]

"And HVAC companies resistant to change, which is a bigger barrier than you might expect." TRUTH! Just a couple days ago, our HVAC company came out to do regular maintenance on our current central AC system. We asked them about getting a heat pump... and they said it wouldn't be worth it for us. I _know_ that they're wrong.

[@grandinosour]

I would trust my long time A/C tech's advice over the propaganda of the energy natzis....they have to fix those things frequently.

[@ssz28envy]

How do you know they're wrong? If you live in an area where it's regularly below freezing during the winter then the heat pump is way less efficient than gas.

[@battra92]

Some people at work got a heat pump installed to save money and energy. This year, which hasn't even been that bad of a winter, their heating costs doubled than if they had stayed with their oil furnace. Electricity ain't cheap everywhere.

[@huckthatdish]

@@ssz28envy I’m assuming headset guy is more familiar with the climate where he lives than you are. He’s probably done the math using average number of days below freezing per year in his area.

[@FerdinandFake]

Your central ac system can't heat? It would be possible to retrofit that, anything that cools is basically a heat pump. Over here all the HVAC guys are booked solid, cost for a heat pump install has more than doubled because of the demand. Glad I work in refrigeration only tho, dealing with homeowners can be a pain sometimes.

[@GerhardMack]

Another thought: I wish homes had some sort of temperature transfer loop. That way all heat pumps could add and remove from it as needed. IE Heating can pull heat from, cooling can put heat into so Fridges would have a better place to offload their heat than the space behind the fridge and in the winter the home heating can pull some of that.

[@tristanridley1601]

Some homes have vents that move cold air from the basement to the top floor and hot air from there to the basement. This sounds like more of the same good idea.

[@AlexMalinovich]

I cracked up at the de-humidi-dryers line! Brilliant!

[@DavidLindes]

Someone shared Part 1 with me recently, because I'd been talking about not turning on gas in my new house, and going all-electric. Little did they know that Part 1 was part of the inspiration for that. So, I shared part 2 with them. ;) Glad I watched this before buying a water heater, too. I may still end up going conventional electric, but will definitely research the heat pump options first!

[@VideoArchiveGuy]

Glad you won Powerball, enjoy.

[@timhartherz5652]

The cultural differences are always interesting. Here in Europe heat-pump dyers have become rather common, not only do they save power, they also don't require an exhaust for the humid air, they also not that much more expensive. Electrical in-line water heaters are also not uncommon usually around 15-21kW which isn't an issue with a 3-phase 400V supply. They're often installed in addition to a central house heating system which can be gas, oil or heatpump, so you still have warm water while the heating is off during summer.

[@alerighi]

Yes I mean almost all dryers nowadays are heat pump. I think one of the reason is that electricity is much more expensive in the US that in general we tend to have much more efficient appliances. Water heaters are not that common because gas is common and (or at least, was) very cheap compared to electricity, thus almost everywhere you see combination boilers that will do central heating and also instantaneous hot water. In my country electric water heaters are found in hot climate where you don't have an heating system, or where you don't have a gas heating system (for example wood/pellet or diesel heating). Water heaters are coming for no-gas houses, since with heat pumps you have less heating power and thus you will need a storage tank.

[@meredit931]

We have a hot water tank that runs on the oil boiler, and heats up with the heat (it will also heat up with the fire, if we are using the fireplace, thanks to the back boiler). We just installed an electric shower, so we can have hot showers on days when we don't run the boiler, and so don't heat the water tank. This is a pretty common arrangment where we are.

[@grandtourerpt]

Not all of Europe. In Portugal most homes have between 3 to 6.9kW available (single phase) and the majority of homes relies on natural gas, butane or propane for water heating and cooking. Even some homes with solar panels for water heating still have natural gas installed for the winter months when the water is not hot enough from the solar panel alone. I would love to exchange my natural gas tankless water heater with one with an heatpump, but there's limited space (these are usually 80x40x30cm) and tearing the house apart just to install one is not economically viable.

[@alexanderkupke920]

As other comments already pointed out, there is not only some general difference between the US and Europe, but also due to given conditions across Europe, as someone from Portugal pointed out. Around the mediteranean sea I have seen a lot, if not all houses having a solar heater and tank on the roof, which I guess in those climates is good for plenty of free hot water through most of the year. But the further north you get, those get less until you see no more of them. I think what you describe is what you will very commonly find, with some variations, around Germany, Austria, Netherlands etc. And looking at how houses or apartements are built today, most commonly you have a high efficiency condensating furnace to provide both, hot water for the main bathroom and hot water for the hydronic heating, either using in floor heating or registers, which is already the main difference to US homes. For all other sinks, kitchen, other bathrooms, toilet, if there is hot water, you will find electric water heaters, either with a small 5 liter tank, or small tnakless ones. But the difference is, those tankless heaters are only for that faucet. or in some cases with larger ones, only for that bathroom. In the US that tankless heater usually serves all bathrooms and the kitchen. Also I mentioned high efficiency condensating furnaces (in German Brennwerttherme or Brennwertkessel) which by condensating exhaust gases get as high as ninetyodd percent efficiency. Marketing materials state up to 108 % efficiency, which I find rather odd and hard to believe. My furnace was just maintained a few days ago, the mandatory analysis of exhaust gases showed about 99.8 % efficiency (meaning energy removed from the exhaust gas comparing it to the intake air based on temperature, as well as complete as possible combustion of the gas.). I found an older table where they put an average heating efficiency for gas furnaces at about 70 percent. 80 to 90 % for lower temperature in floor heating systems. condensating furnaces had to be above 99 %. I know those exist for tankless gas heaters in the US as well, I think the company shown in the video (Rheem?) has them. I am just not sure how common they are yet. For newer homes and certain renovations targeting efficiency using solar for hot water and/or heating might be a thing as well. solar power also takes up, but for most new homes and recent renovations, heatpumps are taking off more and more. To a small degree you might as well find gas powered heat plants producing heat for a whole street or neighborhood (Usually if those have been built at once within like the last 20 years). For a time those were considere more efficient than single home heating solutions, especially if those might create electric power as well. Other than that, you might find this kind of heating around plants which create a lot of waste heat. Next thing you mentioned, we are rather spoiled with getting plenty of three phase electricity to our houses. A single family home usually has 3 phase 230 volt with a 63 Ampere service. That is either 14.5 kW single phase or 43.5 kW if you really use the 400 Volt between phases and 3 phase. Those tankless electrical water heaters usually are 3 phase and, if for a whole bathroom, usually 32 amp, so they get to 22 kW as well. What you may find here as well, is a combination of those tankless systems with a tank. For example we have such a tankless furnace for heating and hot water, but we have an additional 150 l tank. That usually is enough for a whole family, and that tank is so well insulated, some years ago we only figured out that our furnace had failed (electronics issue) when we ran out of hot water after two or three days. I think those tanks lose about 1 to 1.5 °C over 24 hours. Heating was not in use at that time of the year. When it comes to heat pump dryers, I recently have seen a video by Matt Risinger, a guy who runs a construction company in Texas and has developed a love for high efficiency and European materials like higher insulating European style windows. He showed his heat pump dryer for his highly energy efficient home, where he did not want to make the home as airtight as possible for efficiency, ant then vent out warm air through the dryer. It looked like something with a certain novelty factor for the US. In that context I tried to look it up, and unless i looked into commercial grade dryers with like 25 kg capacity, here in Germany I could not find any more gas heated or vented dryers as home appliances. I think those were phased out, because they just didn´t make European required Energy efficiency standards. I think gas heated dryers never have been around here in larger numbers anyways. What Alec mentioned about drying time, I guess we are used to have a dryer run 3 hours. Personally I don´t see an issue with that. I have it running and do something different in between. I rarely want to dry something that badly and urgently that I can´t wait. And even those before heapt pump, we had to clean lint traps. Also, with what I think, dryers beeing more common these days, I still know plenty of households not having or not using a dryer. Line drying seems to be still a very common thing here in Europe.

[@daviddavidson2357]

How many houses have a 3 phase supply going to them? Not many I'd wager. Though you can still get enough power from a single phase.

[@Davidmc23]

Love your work, thanks! On induction stoves. You can't overstate how great they are. I was a pro cook and cook daily and getting an induction stove changed our lives, my wife agrees. The power and control you get with a range level cooktop is awesome. Gas doesn't even come close. I can bring a pot of water up to tap temperature faster than the delay while cold works it way through the line to the tap and when I lower power it's instant. Cooking meats is wonderful. The only "gotcha" is that the cookware makes a huge difference. Carbon steel out performs stainless steel and even between different brands of stainless there's a noticeable difference. They all work just not as efficient.

[@bazanime]

Your captions are always fun. 😁 Thanks for the very useful information. 👍🏾

[@BlackBanditXX]

I'm planning to build a new house in the next two years, and your channel has been a treasure trove of ideas! Living in rural New England, I used to think that Liquid Propane was a no brainer, and the concept of an all electric house sounded like something only a southerner could get away with. However, given that I was already thinking subterranean, the more I think about it I like the idea of going all electric, with battery backups and some solar/ wind to supplement draw.

[@eugenetswong]

I'm so excited for you. By the way, as i type this out, I recall a KZbin suggestion: build faucets into all 4 sides [or corners] of your home. The idea is that you don't want hoses getting in the way of anything. Having faucets around the house will help that. I thought of something else: anticipate where you might want more power in the future, and then add wiring in the walls. to that location, without connecting the wiring. Are you interested in rain water collection? Watch every KZbin video on the different systems, and see to it, that you can adjust as you need. My brother tried to install a rain barrel but because he tried to save money on getting a new down spout, he ended up hiring 2 contractors, who both failed. On top of that, houses aren't typically designed to keep rain collectors, which means that a container sits where people might walk, or where furniture could be, or where plants could be. I would go so far as to imagine where the collected water is going to be consumed, and see if you can let the roof water drain towards there, and be collected at an out of the way location.

[@danh2031]

Always appreciate these videos. Sorry that this is a long comment. I'll just add my own experience with the Rheem ProTerra hybrid 50 gal heat pump water heater that I bought from Home Depot for $1,699+tax and installed myself. I bought it June/2022 to replace an 80 gallon electric water heater that sprung a leak after 20 years of flawless service. Installation was just as easy as replacing any electric water heater with no special tools or procedures required. I live in the warm south so the heat pump worked great and the energy savings were exactly as advertised. A big bonus was the cool dehumidified air in my utility room. Well, two days ago the thing started beeping like crazy. Upon inspection, it was sitting in a pool of water and the LCD screen said it had error codes. Sooooo, I downloaded an app to talk to my water heater, yes our civilization is at this stage, and it politely told me a whole bunch of things that I didn't understand and asked me if I wanted it to forward the error codes to the installer/contractor. Well seeing as that was me, and I had no idea what it was talking about, I ignored it and tried to find out where the water was leaking from. It turned out that the bottom heating element, it's a hybrid and has both top and bottom heating elements in addition to the heat pump, had a defect or something and arced and melted all the wires and foam near it. It had gotten so hot that it melted through the center of where the element electrodes are (not where the element screws in) and sprung a leak. Thankfully there is a troubleshooting help line phone number in large print right on the side of the tank. The water heater has a 1 year in-home parts and labor warranty as well as 10 year parts warranty including the compressor. Rheem customer service was great. They immediately contacted a plumbing company in my area and they came and inspected the unit the next morning. The plumbers sent a report to Rheem saying that the whole water heater needed replacing. Now here is where there may be an issue for some people. Later that afternoon I got a phone call from Rheem saying there is only 1 authorized installer in my area and they may not be able to get to me quickly. They said that I should hire a plumber, pay for the installation, and then submit the bill to Rheem for reimbursement. They authorized $550 for reimbursement and if it was going to be more than that I had to get "Prior approval from Rheem" or they wouldn't cover it. I'm a do it yourself-er so I asked if I could just do it. I didn't want to wait for a plumbing company, and I had been without hot water. They said "yes" Home Depot will just exchange it for a new one and if I have any issues to call them from the store and they would take care of it. So this morning I took the old one back to home-depot and got a new one installed with no issues. They wont reimburse me for my time, but i would rather just get it done. That's basically it. I know it's not an exciting story if you were expecting one but water heaters are so simple that we should expect a good 15 trouble free years from them. I don't know what happened to mine and I still do recommend this type of water heater as I hope my experience isn't typical. Rheem seems to be a good company that will cover their products under warranty, but it would probably be a good thing to be able-bodied or to know some plumbers who are.

[@AlexseyGromov]

Thank you so much for your hard work on videos that teach us the importance of understanding how our objects effect not only us but the environment.

[@Enjun38]

Your set is incredibly well decorated

[@RandyChase]

I installed an all-in-one LG washer/dryer that uses 120V in a basement build out 4+ years ago. I liked it so much I replaced my main washer and dryer with another LG unit 3 years ago. There are so many positives of using these as compared to the old methods. Main one as you mentioned is not needing a vent and thereby not sending out tons of your inside air which needs to be replaced by either hot or cold and/or damp outside air. Since the units are all-in-one, they have a built in drain so no need to empty anything. I was able to use the existing 240V outlet I no longer needed, as the source of power for my EV wall charger. The main downside is really to me not a downside and is very similar to responses from people about driving EVs. Since it is an all-in-one... I toss the clothes in and push a button. 3-4 hours later we have dry clothes so it is easy to just get used to starting the cycle before work in the morning, or before bedtime at night. The positive is the time saved not having to transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer. There is extra time...but it is not liike you pulled up a chair and stared at it until it is done. Kind of like living with an EV. You get used to plugging it in at night and it is "full" in the morning and you don't have to stop at the gas station. Just a different mind set I guess to get used to. By the way, replaced my gas furnace 6 weeks ago with a heat pump. Picked up a Rivian last week. The only gas now is the high end Italian stove I installed 2 years ago which I wish they offered a drop in induction top, but they do not.

[@jimmysublime8271]

I'm using all-in-one AEG washer/dryer for about 5 years. Only downside is that I have to open it and clean dust from clothes from heat pump once per year. There are a lot of filters, but the smallest dust can pass the filters and than reach radiator wet by condensed moisture and the dust is stuck there. After 3 years the radiator was almost complete block. So now I clean it once a year. I have to remove about 20 screws (2 for top metal cover, the rest for plastic cover inside), but it is about 30 minutes total work. It is clear that the washer/dryer is design to be cleaned, because there are only screws, no one time use clip, tape or something like that.

[@travcollier]

I need an all-in-one washer dryer. I have a bad habit of forgetting clothes in the washer, and they get a nasty smell which is next to impossible to get rid of. Family of 3, so we don't do much laundry really. My in-laws in Korea have a really old all-in-one which still works fine. LG is a decent brand for such things. They've been around a while and know what they are doing.

[@matsv201]

We use to have a LG washer/dryer... it broke.. replaced it with a samsung.. and.. well it also broke, but we had warranty. It now works. One washer dryer on family of 6. work just fine. Just do a load every night. (and like 3 a day on the weekends)

[@travcollier]

@@matsv201 LG is a decent company... Sadly, "decent company" is a very relative term though.

[@matsv201]

@@travcollier Well yea.. LG is not quite quality products. But it was quite cheap when i bought it. The Samsung was actually cheaper, but because i bought it 6 years later, combo system did drop in price quite a bit during that period. Still i would suspect that a quality european brand would probobly be better. But they are like twice the price

[@swimmerkat3965]

I love the fact that this channel gets into the weeds of what a green energy transition might look like. Many of these appliances seem far superior to the conventional ones right now, the dryer is particularly intriguing to me Videos like this are great because they give me a new appreciation for the physics and engineering behind everyday appliances I take for granted. It also shows that living a more energy efficient lifestyle is often a question of grids and infrastructure, and that a more green future doesn’t mean a massive cut to your standard of living. I think we all can afford to cut back a little bit, but we can also keep awesome things like refrigerators, an invention that cut food waste in half when it hit mass market adoption after WWII. Or dishwashers, that use far less water and are more sanitary than washing by hand

[@Etacovda63]

He misses a very big point with the driers (or maybe they’re not common in the us) - a lot come with plumbing kits that allow you to pump the condensate directly out into a sink/drain. Ours is literally no different to run than a normal resistive dryer in effort.

[@vonBlankenburgLP]

Our heat pump dryer is a dream. We can only put our dryer in the bathroom and that has no windows because it's inside. So any solution that has to blow air out of the apartment is out of the question for us. Our heat pump dryer is quiet, even though it's in the middle of the apartment, and after two hours, up to 16 pounds of laundry are dry. Unfortunately, when we bought it in 2020, the kit to connect it to the drain was not available because of Covid-19. Since then, we have been too lazy to retrofit it, but just quickly dumping the small tank into the sink is no big deal now.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@vonBlankenburgLP sounds better than the old solution, a “condenser drier” which still used heat to dry, but also requires manual emptying of a tank!

[@PKWeaver74]

We bought a heat pump dryer 10 years ago and it's the best purchase at ever made. I have ADHD and drying clothes outside was always a challenge. When we admitted this gave and bought a heat pump dryer we didn't know it would never damage our clothes. It's amazing, does large loads and yes, takes ages. If you know this in advance it's brilliant.

[@Viral-Mage]

I got a heat pump dryer entirely because of what I learned in a previous video of yours. I haven't noticed a decrease in how fast it dries clothes (I didn't measure before and after - I've always just done something else until the dryer beeps?), it wasn't much more expensive that a traditional unit (the non-heat pump version was CAD100 less than the heat pump version), and cleaning the second lint trap has been a non-issue (in fact, it's easier than cleaning the old vent, so I think this is actually an advantage). Every time I watch one of your videos I feel just a little bit better about having done something to reduce my energy usage. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do to replace my end-of-life hot water heater with a heat pump version, but I'm not sure if it will be cost-effective compared to my current gas heater. Still, I'd be happy to pay a bit more knowing that I'm having less of an impact on the environment. As always, thank you for your videos!

[@tristanridley1601]

What did it cost? Happy with the brand? My parents need to replace their old junky one, and since you quote CAD I suspect we have the same selection of options.

[@Viral-Mage]

@@tristanridley1601 Samsung DV22N6800HW, it was CAD1100. It's been good! It works well, it was easy to install, and it's been almost two years exactly with 0 problems.

[@TheBenenene10]

Why am I so darn hyped to watch a 40 minute video about home electrification!? You're doing something very right!

[@piperpa4272]

I've been using heatpump dryers here in Denmark the last 10-12 years. Many models allows you hook up a drain so you don't have to empty the water tray. And they aren't that slow at drying clothes in my experience. The old ones yes, the ones I've used in the last 8 or so years have been fast enough for me.

[@HenryLoenwind]

Are you sure it's a heatpump and not a condenser dryer? From the outside, they look the same. The working principle isn't even that different; both use heat exchangers to condense the water from the hot air, but one focuses on hot air while the other focuses on dry air.

[@kephir4eg]

I recently installed a heatpump dryer in CA replacing that giant 5 kW abomination US homes typically have - the best improvement lately. It had easily cut the annual electricity usage 1/4. I was a bit sceptical and everything tried to talk me against it, but it turned out to be great.

[@matsv201]

@@kephir4eg what th.... 5kW?? my condensing dryer take 1.5kW.. while, yes, its pretty slow, but its not THAT slow.

[@chaos.corner]

The main issue is the heat exchanger. Not enough surface area and it's slow, too much and it clogs up with lint. I wonder how they've got around that.

[@chaos.corner]

@@kephir4eg Thing is, my current dryer is still churning along after 22 years. With my experience with recent appliances, it would be a hard sell to get me to spend money on something that might not last long enough to make up the price difference.

[@russelldavis1539]

I like how many times you point out that the heat pump water heater will work excellently in some climates. Out here in Arizona, the garage where the water heater is regularly gets over 110°. That would be an excellent source and frankly the corner of the garage where it is would probably benefit from a little cooling because there's a fridge near there as well

[@brinedtomato]

I actually installed a heat pump WH about 2 months ago. With the water heater in the garage, and given we live in AZ, it was a perfect fit (noiseless in the house, and offers small cooling bonus to an otherwise hot space, thus lowering the home's envelope temps). I have an IotaWatt energy monitor in my panel, and so far I've seen KWH usage drop in half (we have it in high demand mode from 6-8 while our house of 4 showers and no problems). I purchased this over a year ago, and now I wish I had installed it sooner. I should also mention, the inlet and outlets are in different locations than a standard tank, so prepare for some added costs for fittings/labor as well.

[@thespazdragon]

Idea: Combine heat-pump water heaters and refridgerator/freezers. People ALWAYS need their cold boxes to stay cold, no matter the weather, and this would put the waste heat of said cold boxes to work.

[@sergiomendez9231]

Not to mention the fact many middle class families have a freezer or second refrigerator. This is a really neat idea!

[@pannoncannon]

Any video you put out is an absolute gem. Thanks a ton for consistently putting out great educational content.

[@lizburgess4398]

I'm so excited about this tech! My stove gave up the ghost last year. We didn't replace it. I bought an induction burner and a countertop air fryer/convection oven. Thanks for the info!

[@donbenjamin3]

Good video! Our Miele heat pump dryer doesn’t take much more time than our former vented dryer. A load of towels typically takes 70 minutes. Cleaning the dryer filters is easier than cleaning the old dryer duct. Finally, we’re no longer sucking outside air into the house while the dryer is running.

[@XMarkxyz]

I really hope that this kind of clear, informative, and polite videos with the exposure you have will have an impact helping who wants to change and even convincing some more

[@Oddman1980]

I like the bit you showed about the electric car, it demonstrates just how much energy a car uses, no matter what it's source of energy is. The smallest car I've ever personally owned had an engine that put out 55 horsepower at it's maximum. That's like 41kw. And basically everyone that isn't a weirdo like me has a car that's more powerful than that. Just driving down the highway uses around 20 horsepower, which is 15kw, and that number is comfortably higher than your electric stove. If your water heater is located close enough to the outside wall, you could vent the exhaust outside in the winter. My gas water heater already vents it's exhaust to the outside. I spent ten years working at Whirlpool making ranges, that plant was pumping out well over a million ranges per year when I left. They sure are used a lot in the US. I've also learned the secret to avoiding power outages - be on the same substation as the gated neighborhood full of mcmansions down the street.

[@strehlow]

Venting the cold air out will likely be worse than keeping it in. If the exhaust air is 40º but outside ambient is 20º, keep it in. Because any air you push out of the house must be replaced from the outside anyway.

[@EricGreniervideo]

The dryer/water heater idea is brilliant!

[@r.1599]

I've lived in two different places in the UK, and both had on-demand tankless water heaters in the kitchens and bathrooms. Small and efficient, and no gas hookup. Had one of those two-in-one washer-dryers, too. Very convenient and space saving in tiny UK homes.

[@thenexthobby]

Jam-packed with good ideas and contextual circumstances well-articulated. Much of it is a summary of research I've been doing and considering, which is to say I agree with you. Keep up this great work, Alec!

[@Tarkov.]

Having a propane generator for hurricanes is so nice, it's really hard to find gas when they start announcing evacutations but usually you can still scoop propane up even when every gas station is empty. Another bonus is that the shelf life of propane is way better than a plastic can of gas.

[@teagame1011]

Propane "borrowing". Certified apocalypse hustler.

[@oisiaa]

I like you Alec! You're my kind of guy. All of your videos are literally the things I ponder every day.

[@davemckenzie9194]

Our (smaller size)electric tank water heater is in an un-insulated crawl space. It runs out of hot water pretty fast in the winter. So, I installed an inexpensive tankless propane water heater and plumbed it in so I can flip a few valves to swich between the two. I switch to the propane one in the winter, and a grill size propane tank that is $14.00 to refill lasts about 2-3 weeks. It supplies our whole small house with hot water, not bad. There is definatly a lag waiting for hot water to warm up the pipes. Willing to live with that though in this rental house. Thought this might help someone. Great channel!

[@RaeSindy9573]

Oh my goodness, I thought I loved part one a ton, part two makes me feel even better about the future. Thank you for all of this great information!!

[@edamnaf9265]

You really need your own TV series on this stuff...you have a great voice and delivery for it, and you're CLEAR AND CONCISE..which is necessary on these things! "Electric Umbrella"!!! I used to work at Disney World!

[@ambulocetusnatans]

This is way better than TV. If he got a gig at a network, it would totally ruin the show. He would have to do what some pencil pusher says, and they would ask for stupid shit, like fake conflict with a room-mate or something. No, he doesn't need TV. It's TV that needs him.

[@TCAPChrisHandsome]

Where I live, our average summer day is around 90°F and our winter days rarely drop below 30° so I love the thought of heat pump dryers and water heaters my poor central AC unit rarely gets a break in the summer. Our house is rigged with electric strips for the heater, because it rarely is cold enough for a heater, but during the summer, some days the AC unit runs pretty much all night just to keep the rooms a comfortable 68° for bed. A heat pump water heater and dryer would be perfect for easing up the load on the central unit in the summer

[@JBLewis]

I think I commented about this in a previous video, but I have an induction cooktop for my adventure van. And once you get past the cookware limitation, it's really effective. "Half" power is all you really need for a decent sauté, and if you are cooking scrambled eggs, level 4 (of 10) is plenty.

[@jormungand72]

have you figured out how to use a wok yet?

[@defaultuserid1559]

This was a useful video series for me because I live in a 60 year old house with limited ampacity (fuses) and heated with propane. You gave me several ideas to consider for getting more out of the electrical system until we can do a major upgrade. Water heaters with heat pumps? Stoves with batteries? All news to me. Keep up the great videos.

[@PedroOjeda]

I love these home-oriented videos, I learn so much and it has made me much more comfortable around first-home buying. Thank you :)

[@chat-1978]

7-8 years ago, I bought my heat pump dryer in Belgium and all expensive models had a pipe for the water. A washing machine and a dryer are usually stacked and therefore the connections for the washing machine are used for that pipe I prefer separate machines so I can wash and dry.

[@Jaws1200]

For reference at 18:11, we have a heat pump dryer that doesn’t have any water tank that requires manual emptying. It just has a drain line where water is drained from (we use the same drain pipe that the nearby clothes washer uses). It does run on a 240v circuit however, but we have loved not needing to worry about a dryer vent potentially getting clogged with lint anymore. And the secondary lint trap only needs to be cleaned every 5 or so cycles and there is a light on the unit that reminds you when it needs clearing. A great unit all around!

[@Patriarchtech]

I love your style, approach and research . I love your narrating too this is such a great channel and this and part 1 are great videos! Cheers from Denmark/Japan!

[@jurabondarchook2494]

Interesting how different local markets work. In Europe heat pump dryers are very common for long time. Regarding reservoir for water that you need to empty. They have both, a reservoir that you can use if there is no drain where dyer installed, and a drain hose to connect to drain same as washing machine. So if drain is available - no hassle at all.

[@meneldal]

Europe has a lot more regulation on energy efficiency and you need heat pumps to get a good grade on a dryer.

[@jenesuispasbavard]

I love your electrification videos! We just bought a house with a prehistoric panel and need to upgrade it. Might as well make more appliances electric in the process. I do wish more electric cars did V2L or V2G though - they're basically the perfect solution for power outages.

[@mariethedicedragon5977]

So, the community thing is so important, and as someone who works customer care for a power utility in Canada, I see it all the time. The situation that comes to mind is the tragic situation where on day 2 of a major ice storm this year, one of our power lines technicians passed away in a workplace accident, so our work safe program & the RCMP had to investigate and we could not continue restoration efforts until that was complete. I think it was around 5 days for that area, and I was on the team calling people in the area to let me know, and the number of OK I'll go let my elderly neighbor know, or elderly customers who had been getting help from their neighbors was amazing to see.

[@Juandachu]

In my building getting gas isn´t even an option, most houses don't bother with heaters here in southern Spain. This is all electric, all the time. Water heater, heat pump mini splits... and I still watch these videos. Partly because I like to see how infuriated Alec gets at "but muh gaaaas" but also just for the great informative work. Keep it up.

[@johncoops6897]

Same here in Australia. And it gets cold here, despite what people think (our climate is similar to Spain, except in unpopulated areas).

[@MythosGandaar]

We live in an all electric house but are planning to move to the Midwest soon! Pretty excited, but I've never had gas at home before, so have a lot to learn about electric alternatives as appliances need replacement. Thank you for the great video!

[@northvilletunnels]

Those gas bills can be pretty terrible. I moved south from Illinois, and not getting a $300 gas bill has been great

[@sarahboyd1129]

Another well balanced, thoughtful video. Really enjoy the information!

[@dabundis]

Induction stoves have another advantage over gas and resistive: lower heat settings. A gas burner has a minimum flow rate to avoid going out and pumping unburned gas into your home. Electric burners' "low" settings are often achieved by cycling on and off, especially in cheaper/older stoves, which can lead to bursts of high heat when you want steady low heat. Induction can be perfect for recipes that want to be kept at a bare simmer for several hours.

[@electrictroy2010]

@themightyboondi THATS not how my electric stove’s low setting works. It operates at ~200 watts power. Just enough to keep food warm

[@kopisusu2000]

I live in Indonesia, where it's humid and quite hot. AC's are popular, and water heaters too, although only for showers. Just yesterday I found out that a local company offers a tanked water heater that strictly uses the heat from existing air conditioners. I have yet got time to ask them about the cost, though. I am sure it's still expensive, but it is basically a heat-pump water heater, and of course that got me excited.

[@kopisusu2000]

@Zaydan Alfariz Correct company. Thank you for the price info, Sir!

[@arcticweb]

Here in Europe, where three-phase 400V are a thing, electrical tankless waterheaters are quite common. They are used far more often then those running on gas. It still requires a solid wiring to run a 22kw device (22kw beeing 3 phase 32 Amps) but its much less of a hassle here.

[@trex2099]

Europe is a big place and there are huge differences. Here in Denmark very few would use electric tankless water heaters. These days where electricity can be 5 times cheaper overnight, people are starting to put smart controllers into their water heater to run it mostly at night.

[@willembos8367]

Yeah not true for the Netherlands. Gas on top, and then heatpumps.

[@toddf4738]

Hey Alex. Thanks for the great videos. I'm in the middle of building a new house in southern California (no freezing winter) and am trying to go as green and as energy efficient as financially possible. There will be no gas service to the house and will incorporate solar panels with battery back up, heat pump HVAC, heat pump water heater, induction cooking and heat pump washer/dryer combos. (LG 4.5 cu.ft.). Something I am doing that I haven't herd mentioned is to put the backup batteries for the solar panels in the same space as the heat pump water heater. My current home has one Tesla battery that seems to give off a considerable amount of heat weather it's charging or discharging. By putting them in the same space they can do some thermal sharing. The water heater can suck up some of the heat from the batteries and put it into the water and the cold discharge from the water heater can help cool the batteries. I had to make a few concessions for the city to approve installing the batteries indoors but nothing major. Basically double drywall in the room (2 hour fire code) and a thermal sensor. Keep the videos coming.

[@RoyvanG]

I live in the Netherlands and my apartement building is getting renovated soon (as in, the scaffolding is planned to go up this week). Each apartment has a single gas outlet for cooking (heating is done through a central system that flows through multiple apartements). During the renovation, that gas outlet will be removed and replaced with a high voltage electrical outlet, forcing everyone to get an electric furnace of cooking plate. I also have a water boiler in my kitchen which will be replaced with a shared hot water system that circulates through (parts of) the building. Solar panels will be installed as well and connected to each apartment. So I have multiple electrification steps happening at the same time. The heat pump dryer bit was quite interesting because I have used one for 5 years now. As a single person household, it's great! I only do laundry about twice a week so that helps. I find it strange that others don't use them, but then again the arguments in your video might just be enough for some folk.

[@biglogan6142]

As interesting, educational, and entertaining as I always find your videos, this one has been especially and particularly practical ... I am hoping/planning on moving semi-rural in the hopes of establishing a "grid optional" home ... and information about appliances and stuff like this is super useful in the planning for that. Thank you!

[@knightwolf3511]

if you move rural, you want more of the objects where you ask yourself can you fix it yourself. we have to fix all our own machines if they break since warranties don't exist anymore, sears was the only one that used to come out but they don't really exist anymore. we had a relay on our Whirlpool washer machine go out so it was only filling 1/4 of the way so we had to wait about 3 months for a new board event though we just bought it and under warranty. there is no person who can come to service it here

[@JohnEwan]

Thanks for such a thorough and informative series! Definitely gives me some new ideas. But I think something you said at the end needs amplified. You spoke of the need for communities to adopt local storage and production capability, and I think this is more important than your comments on it portend. Soooo many people are stuck renting apartments or living in condos and other situations in which they really have no say in the type of energy they must use, and this just is not going to change. Only community-wide solutions can make a difference for these people. Additionally, many people in single-family homes simply don't have the money to make such changes to their situations, but community-wide storage would still be a huge benefit to them.

[@list1726]

Thanks for posting. I appreciate your fair evaluation

[@NiclasGleesborg]

Watching these two videos just makes me impressed how different usa and other places on earth do things. Most of the things talked about here has been the norm for decades here. And most homes in my country has district heating. on the other hand, barely anyone has gas lines.

[@JasonJrake]

One of the downsides of relatively cheap energy here in the U.S. is that we’ve been very slow about spending the upfront money to switch to more efficient technologies for consumer products. Most of these technologies are in use in industrial settings where accountants consider total cost of use/ownership instead of initial cost only.

[@fellipec]

The idea of stoves and fridges having with batteries built-in that can make your home stays on during a power outage is very good.

[@trex2099]

It would be better to have houses build with sufficient power and a grid that (almost) never have outages. Where I live, power outages are so rare that no one would buy such a device.

[@fellipec]

@@trex2099 Where I live power outages are almost non-existent, but sometimes drivers hit utility poles and is not fast to change one of those things. And you can hook your own solar panels to those things too!

[@josephcouture2838]

Very good information. I greatly respect how you listened to those of us in rural areas. I have a heat pump hot water heater for my domestic hot water and it's awesome. It functions good and I got a rebate that made the heat pump cheaper than standard options. I am considering trying a heat pump for my home heat, I would supplemented by using wood heat (I already have that as a backup).

[@Skiddings]

From the UK: recently got a new heat pump dryer to replace a very old air vented dryer. The difference is incredible, and hooking it up to the washer drain was super easy so we don't even have to worry about the tank. It doesn't even take that much longer to dry stuff - full load of washing is dry in less than 2 hours normally and I can't think of a time I ever needed it faster than that. It was about 50% more expensive than similar (now very rare) vented and old style condenser dryers. Given the price of leccy in the UK at the moment we'll easily make the extra cost back in less than a year given how much more efficient it is. Unless you go for something super high end like a Miele or Bosch it really isn't that expensive (and those companies don't even offer better warrantees anymore). Incidentally the idea that a dryer needs its own circuit is pretty much unheard of here in the UK. But our ring mains that are common in houses here will probably make an American electrician twitch. But then you power your dryers with burning gas.. what were you all sniffing when you thought that was a good idea!

[@steveweatherly1965]

Recently installed an outside heat pump water heater and absolutely love it, it's saving around $35 a month on our old 240v heater which also was solar but the solar part failed ( yes we live in Australia ) the unit installed cost around the $5500 mark but with rebates took it down to $3800 still very expensive but it's such a fantastic low running cost.

[@ARitzCracker]

You have opened my eyes to the existence of heat-pump water heaters. This is amazing. Thank you. Edit: Heat pump dryers?! Which just constantly de-humidify the contents? How have I not considered this??

[@salibaba]

Cracking, dries low and slow. saves a huge electric bill and saves damp smells from leaving clothes to hang around the house when its cold outside.

[@cezarcatalin1406]

If only they would think to extract the heat back from the water going down the drain instead of taking it out of the freaking air!!!

[@salibaba]

@@cezarcatalin1406 the water is usually luke warm after having cooled and condensed

[@kc9scott]

@@cezarcatalin1406 That idea exists… I believe the name for it is grey-water heat exchanger. They can be used to partially preheat the cold water going into your water heater. Works with any type of water heater. I don’t know any details about the tradeoffs (e.g. possible gunk buildup on the grey-water side), or how much energy they’d actually save.

[@kc9scott]

@@cezarcatalin1406 Or perhaps you meant putting the heat-pump’s evaporator coil into the grey water. I don’t know if anyone has done that. Sounds like a good idea as long as it has a way to avoid freezing the grey water.

[@ericscherer7468]

As an residential and commercial HVAC/R service technician I am EXTREMELY skeptical about modern day refrigeration equipment as it is much less adding refrigeration circuits to every home appliance as well. The amount of refrigerant leaks we are finding on 3-5 year old systems is unnervingly high, especially the “high efficiency” systems. When I was certified to do LG’a first heat pump dryer they told us there were no repairs, only replacing the entire sun-base which contained the entire refrigeration circuit. So adding heat pumps to everything is only gonna end in bankruptcy or financial collapse for a lot of consumers unless they can achieve decent reliability standards again.

[@tristanridley1601]

Sounds like we need to find brands that have good standards and only buy from them.

[@Doctoberfest-ch2ml]

This sent me down a rabbit hole of efficient home systems, and I think you should do a video about HRVs/ERVs. They’re an important part of making a home efficient and net-zero energy

[@AdultingWithoutSupervision]

Wow, man where was this when I was buying a new one a few months back. Great vid!