Gas stoves and other things

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Rex R

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So how long before they come to take your fossil fuel water heater, stove, furnace... NY state is already working to ban them for new construction.
 
I won't insist, but if you guys want someone to take a different position, it's quite easy so I can play.
 
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I love my wood stove... I live in a pine forest... in the mountains.

Natural gas for our hydronic heat has nearly doubled from what it was in 2020. And electricity has went up almost that amount too.

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I read a BBC news article last week about how in England they've been fining and jailing folks for using their fireplaces this winter......because Carbon!
 
My preference would be to have a natural gas stove and solar hot water that provides hot water and the heat-exchanger for the heat system in the winter. That's how our house was set up in Georgia growing up. It was really nice having 'unlimited' hot water for cleaning etc.

Obviously that type of system works in specific climates/densities very differently.

My current house has electric stove and natural gas hot water and heat. Due to land conditions/trees, solar hot water is not a reasonable option compared to where I grew up. So, we could cut down a ton of trees and put panels in, but that seems counterproductive to me.

The only correct solution for every situation is the 'Mr. Fusion' from Back to the Future (2, I think. . .).

Sandy.
 
I read a BBC news article last week about how in England they've been fining and jailing folks for using their fireplaces this winter......because Carbon!

Out here, we're burning pine that was cleared out of the National Forest. If we don't burn it, mother nature will.
 
Gas pricing has been going up for years here. It used to be a much cheaper alternative to heating homes and hot water. It is now priced a the tipping point where it is the same effeciency to use a heatpump on electricity. It is also getting more expensive as the government allowed large overseas contracts to take precedence over providing local supply. So we get to pay the gouging rates that are becoming prevalent due to disturbed supply chains throughout the rest of the world. Our state government has a lot to answer for in this regard.

Add to that the fact that they are closing coal-fired generators and pushing prices up in that market, the consumers are getting screwed both ways and the power providers are having massive windfalls at our expense (litterally).

FYI, our electricity is currently around $0.30/kWh.
 
Well thinking about this is fun so here goes.

It's all virtue signaling
Whether it is or not is not relevant. Salespeople use every technique they can regardless of what they're selling. If it reduces overall emissions, it's a bonus over alternatives. Convenience depends on location.

There will be alot of poor NY'ers shivering in the dark to save the planet.
That doesn't even deserve a reply. 😕

An objective "contrarian"? 😄

I love my wood stove... I live in a pine forest... in the mountains.
Not everyone can do that. On a scale of millions of people and decades, the rate of cutting vs the rate of planting matters, but I wouldn't know the numbers. I have yet to read anything about firewood being a problem, probably because it can't catch on in cities.
 
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Not everyone can do that. On a scale of millions of people and decades, the rate of cutting vs the rate of planting matters, but I wouldn't know the numbers. I have yet to read anything about firewood being a problem, probably because it can't catch on in cities.
Not the case here. There's so much dead pine in the forests it's a problem, a huge problem.

That's why federal laws that cover the entire country are often illogical. What works in the mountains of Colorado may not work in New York City.
 
Out here, we're burning pine that was cleared out of the National Forest. If we don't burn it, mother nature will.
When we still owned a house, both our house, and my FIL's house were mostly heated by trees that fell in people's yards or blown down in storms. If we didn't burn them, they would have rotted and released their carbon anyway.
 
FYI, our electricity is currently around $0.30/kWh.

Currently looking at going completely off-grid because of electricity pricing and service irregularities. Not as simple as assumed when you start talking about multiple buildings across a farm. I'll keep you informed of the progress if you're interested.
 
I oversized the solar panels. I am on a net metering plan with the Borg collective. But they won't pay me cash for the extra electricity I generate.
Sooooo, I have been replacing natural gas appliances as they wear out/fail. First was the gas water heater replaced by a heat pump water heater. Next will be the forced air furnace with a heat pump system. After that the clothes dryer. I will NEVER replace the gas cook top. NEVER!!

I am located in Southern California
 
Gas pricing has been going up for years here. It used to be a much cheaper alternative to heating homes and hot water. It is now priced a the tipping point where it is the same effeciency to use a heatpump on electricity. It is also getting more expensive as the government allowed large overseas contracts to take precedence over providing local supply. So we get to pay the gouging rates that are becoming prevalent due to disturbed supply chains throughout the rest of the world. Our state government has a lot to answer for in this regard.

Add to that the fact that they are closing coal-fired generators and pushing prices up in that market, the consumers are getting screwed both ways and the power providers are having massive windfalls at our expense (litterally).

FYI, our electricity is currently around $0.30/kWh.
When I was growing up, we had separate gas and electricity utilities that actually competed for home heating. Where I live now there is just one utility company providing both gas and electricity.
 
Currently looking at going completely off-grid because of electricity pricing and service irregularities. Not as simple as assumed when you start talking about multiple buildings across a farm. I'll keep you informed of the progress if you're interested.
😋 How will you keep us posted if you are totally off the grid?
 
.... I am on a net metering plan with the Borg collective...
I'd recommend against "The Borg Collective". I saw a documentary on that, and it didn't work out well for Picard. Think outside the box... there's some bad things going on inside.
 
That's why federal laws that cover the entire country are often illogical. What works in the mountains of Colorado may not work in New York City.
I would make this analogy: Federal laws are like a first rough sanding with a coarse grit, and local laws are like finer sanding for details like around the edge of a fin. They got to start somewhere. But I try not to get involved in the local vs federal debates. I'm more into trying to better understand the technical aspects of climate (it's all physics and planets and satellites and thermodynamics and fluid dynamics and radiation spectra) and how to make better products (it's all engineering).

When we still owned a house, both our house, and my FIL's house were mostly heated by trees that fell in people's yards or blown down in storms. If we didn't burn them, they would have rotted and released their carbon anyway.
There's a solid distinction between carbon that's already circulating on the Earth's surface between trees, the air, and oceans (not concerning), and new carbon (from petroleum) that is being added to what's already circulating. The effects of adding large amounts of "new" carbon (from petroleum) in a short time (a few decades) is what people are worried about.

I don't think any biologist is worried about rotting trees, because it happens naturally all the time everywhere. The carbon it releases is not "new", it's regular circulation of surface carbon, going back to where it was just a few years ago.
 
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I don't understand the whole move from gas and coal in NY. They cannot generate enough electricity as it is. They bought a significant amount from Quebec. If you convert over to renewables and electricity, it is going to increase demand and usage of something they already have to buy some somewhere else. Hopefully, we find a way to make more to meet this need.

I remember a few years ago, they were building 500 kv lines from WV to Ohio and KY to connect the generation in WV to the Cinicinatti, Cleveland, and Chicago markets. WV did not want them because they ruined the skyline. They went up anyway.

Hopefully, someone is running the number to prevent furture brown outs. It is not a huge deal if you loose electricty at night in Florida in December at night, but it could be deadly in Chicago or Ancorange. Vice versa in the summer.
 
Not the case here. There's so much dead pine in the forests it's a problem, a huge problem.

Makes it kind of ironic that forest fires seem to always be in places that are already hot. Not too many forest fires in Iowa during the winter (yes, I know why).
 
Hopefully, someone is running the number to prevent furture brown outs.
I have no doubt that they are. Providing power and enough of it is the core of the job/service. No one destroys an old bridge before building the new one.
 
Makes it kind of ironic that forest fires seem to always be in places that are already hot. Not too many forest fires in Iowa during the winter (yes, I know why).
You lost me. It's not hot in Colorado, at least not where most of the forests are... that's kind of how it works.
 
I think you are giving them too much credit.
As much as anyone else doing their job. I can't say "cops are better at being cops than store clerks are at being store clerks".
 
You lost me. It's not hot in Colorado, at least not where most of the forests are... that's kind of how it works.
There aren't any forest fires in Co this winter either... Yes, that is how it works. I personally think the fires typically happen because of exhaustingly poor forest management. (I could tell stories about my brief encounter with USFS and using USAF C-130 MAFFS) Fires happen all over the place...just usually not when it's cold.

I understand you didn't get the joke.
 
The only 2 things I have against using gas appliances or gas heating is carbon monoxide posioning and gas explodes. I personally will not live in a place that uses gas for heating or appliances.
Just as I won't live where people are allowed to smoke cigarettes.
Just as I won't live were the place can be flooded.
Open flames on a stove is an accident just waiting to happen.

I have no idea what the science says about breathing in gas fumes, but it can't be good for you.

With that all said, I don't think our FEDGOV should be mandating all this stuff in an effort to go green.

It's complete overreach. They are violating the 10h Amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
 
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