Going all-electric and getting rid of gas devices

[ixu]

This article in the New York Times has me thinking:

‘All-Electric’ Movement Picks Up Speed, Catching Some Off Guard (Published 2020)

… and specifically about an aspect to a post I just did:

@ixu

Instantaneous electric water heating is undoubtedly potentially more efficient than stored heat but the equation is less than trivial when considering embodied energy. Thought experiment: Everybody who is able decides that’s the way to go, instantaneous … the Utilities’ loads become untenable and force grid upgrades. Worst case, a mass consumer decision to convert their water heater results in the need for additional power stations due to synchronized morning ablutions! As a general rule these days, it seems if you can encourage end-user grid-demand CURRENT reduction you are on the right path.

Referring to @markhovis73’s post here

@markhovis73

We cook with the sun on an induction stove when the sun is shining and with CH4 from the food we ate 10 days before from our homebiogas digester when it is not. Free fire on demand, what’s not to like?

So it makes me wonder the following

• Is Sense any better at tracking induction cookers lately?

• Assuming the energy generation, be it local or grid, is at least renewable, if not solar (i.e. disregarding issues of Utility power being fossil-based), beyond load shifting and cooking when the sun is shining, are there any reasonable methods to go all-electric? Cookers with super-capacitors or powered via batteries? Is anybody periodically running their induction cooker from a Powerwall? Do the embodied energy metrics of Li-ion batteries even lend themselves to such uses?

Which leads to my main question: Can Sense be used to control electrical use where, for example, you might use an induction cooker (or other device) and specifically not want that to run off of a battery and degrade it? Is anybody using IFTTT or other methods to do this for induction cookers or other devices?

There is undeniable logic to cooking when the sun is blazing and then freezing your food at night and in the dark days of winter, using the freezer as a battery!

For reference, I went here some years ago. Solar + Diesel, oh dear:

https://www.auroville.org/contents/513

[john.kramer77]

Instantaneous water heater? No thanks. They are not as green as you think.

[ixu]

Indeed. The link above fleshes that out somewhat.

Consider the “water heater” on a small scale though as a kettle. A small “instantaneous water heater”. In order to justify the insulation required to make a “keep warm”, or near-boiling, tank (in this case a small one) more efficient it needs to be “cheaper” than electrical/heat generation.

Physics dictates that heat loss is harder to prevent the smaller the volume. The bigger the tank, the more efficient it can be. On a practical level, at some point (small volume) you’re fighting an uphill battle against heat loss and “instant” heat starts to win. Sufficient insulation becomes too expensive.

An idealized fridge/freezer should definitely be dumping heat into water and heating it (at least in summer): a fridge should dispense hot water! That pretty much embodies the difficulty with the calculus. Manufacturers end up making things that sell that are certainly not ideal.

Kettle calibration: On the smallest of scales I’ve found that Sense has helped me to innately calibrate my ability to fill the kettle to just the right amount without wasting any excess hot water, and most importantly without fiddling with, say, filling a single cup and then pouring it into the kettle to heat. Efficient laziness.

[ryancshanahan]

I converted my 1907 home to all electric. When I called the gas company to ask them to remove the meter and the line to my house they had me sign a waiver acknowledging that it would cost a future owner more money to bring gas back to the house. I told them that is precisely the point!