Re: First results are in for our solar panels!
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2019 12:58 pm
Interesting post Stockbeard. The comments below the article about the leaky bucket kind of confirm that it isn’t a clear cut issue, fair bit of disagreement there. We had the guy round who installed the air con system to explain how it works last night, and he basically didn’t know the most energy efficient way of using it. I appreciated his honesty at least.
From a bit of google work, using air con for heating in a cold winter climate like here in Hida and in Nagano for Bushiman seems to be a bit different than in more moderate climates as at lower temperatures below zero the heat pump (cheap to operate) becomes less efficient and it needs to supplement through using a heat strip (super expensive) in the air conditioner. So perhaps by keeping the temperature more stable inside, more of the heat you need is generated via the cheaper heat pump and less via the ruinous heat strip. Written as a complete non expert though, I will see what my builder says next week and see if it makes sense.
From a bit of google work, using air con for heating in a cold winter climate like here in Hida and in Nagano for Bushiman seems to be a bit different than in more moderate climates as at lower temperatures below zero the heat pump (cheap to operate) becomes less efficient and it needs to supplement through using a heat strip (super expensive) in the air conditioner. So perhaps by keeping the temperature more stable inside, more of the heat you need is generated via the cheaper heat pump and less via the ruinous heat strip. Written as a complete non expert though, I will see what my builder says next week and see if it makes sense.