Electrification Could Cut Global Energy Use in Half (fullycharged.show)

Better insulation makes cost savings sense regardless of what type of energy is used for heat

We have a wooden house from 1909, insulated, but not to modern standards and many windows. The heating and hot water is provided via a 10 kW (out) modern heat pump with a 100 meter borehole into the ground. This is a fairly standard installation in Sweden. It provides all the heat needed, except for extremely cold days (-20c or lower) when a 7 kW immersion heater can provide support. This is not needed more than a few days a year where we are.

We have added a small solar installation (7kWp) and a battery pack (18kWh). It provides 90% of power needed in the summer and allows for decent peak shaving in the winter, to lower network costs.

Additionally we are Co-owners in a windpower cooperative that provides more than our share of electricity into the network. So we are essentially operating our home on wind and solar, as well as powering the electric car.

I got a CO2 monitor, and noticed that it often went over 1000 ppm CO2. So I started cracking the windows slightly, which resolved it. There are downsides to sealing the house too tight.

We solved our humid air in the bathroom with an active extraction fan that starts when it registers humidity and light (I think) in the room.

An electric dehumidifier in winter keeps moisture in check and you get the energy of evaporation back as heat.

Heat recovery ventilators are one possible solution. You can hook them up to home assistant humidity sensors and open a vent for example.

https://youtu.be/wJB3dyHDa-8

https://youtu.be/zSxyUFLwFbc

https://www.openerv.ca/

It's a well-known "paradox" known as Jevons Paradox. Given enough efficient use of a resource, overall usage could actually far outpace the efficiency gains. E.g. use of coal got efficient enough that travel via trains using it became possible, which led to way more usage of coal.

It kinda depends on where the energy is coming from.

I was brought up to "save energy ". Lights switched off when not in thevroom, that sort of thing.

Now I gave solar on the roof. There's an excess production capability, so now, during most days it doesn't matter if stuff is on or off. That especially applies to AC which I'll happily turn on on hot summer days. In effect I use more "because it's there to be used".

My EV is coming soon and given I can charge it on solar I plan to do a lot more day-trips-out over weekends etc.

So you're right, availability and affordability- but electrifying is great (for me) for both those things.

I think your EV example is a better example than your coal one.

I’ve never seen anyone measure coal power by the amount of chemical energy stored inside, unless they are specifically referring to using it as a heating source. For electricity generated by coal it’s always measured as output.

> An EV has a battery of ~80 kWh, equal to 2-3 gallons of gas, yet it can go a few hundred miles, a 3-4x ratio of efficiency, compared to an ICE.

Now compare size and weight of the battery with 3 gallons of gas. I can carry hundreds of miles of travel on my person if it's gas, I can't carry much battery though.

The battery loses 10% just by charging it.

I figured an EV is worth about 60mpg with a fair comparison to a gas car.

And the average increase in world population is about 1% per year, plus the bulk of the existing population is 'developing' i.e industrialization.

As fast as solar, wind, etc electricity production grows, the number of people requiring it grows along-side.

Also, 'renewable' is misleading, 'replaceable' is more accurate, all renewable energy generators wear out as everything does and need to be replaced using non-renewable energy mostly (you can't build solar panels from solar panel energy)