Hotblast Year 9

[BigBarney]

You don't need 200 amp service depending on your house size...

The heater can be sequenced on a 40 and 50 amp circuits ...

It all depends on your other loads...Remember that they are

only charged to the level of heat to match the outside temperature...

And they are depleted to 0 each day ...

You can divide the charge capacity by the 3 charge rates listed to get

the number of hours it takes to get to full charge...

Even the largest one 2106 --- 40Kwhr divided by 7.2=5.6 hours

can be done with a 40amp breaker...The least powerful rate.

Allowing for the 20% down rate for a continuous rating ...

BigBarney

[larryfoster]

Last I checked, propane was $2.50.
But, that was a month or so ago before things started getting hotter in the mid east.
It's probably higher now.

My electricity is fairly high because it's from a co-op.

While I think Steffe's concept is interesting, I'm not interested in looking into it.
At least not at this time.

[rberq]

They store from 46,000 to 136,000 BTUs... Depending on size....13.5 to 40Kwhr...
...
So this rate for off peak is 66% off ...Peak=.13812 Off Peak=.04562...

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark -- our rate is more than twice your peak rate, and last I looked we had no off-peak reduction at all. So the Steffe units, for us, would offer no advantage.

Our high rate makes even heat pumps marginal in my area, though everybody seems to be installing them. I estimate that at 3X efficiency, heat pumps might save me a few hundred dollars per year in fuel costs, assuming electric and fuel oil prices stay stable, which they never do. Alas, no magic bullet ....

[BigBarney]

I picked a utility in central Maine... Got their rates...CMP Power Co. ...

https://www.cmpco.com/documents/40117/115962041/a ... 3860349858

These are your TOU rates...$0.1218 peak and $0.0586 off peak.... $21.55 mo min with 50Kwhr...

These are a special 1 rate with a $37.71 base and all power at $0.05736 kwhr...

https://www.cmpco.com/documents/40117/115962041/a ... 9126315721

You also have 100% off peak on all Saturdays and Sundays and holidays...

https://www.cmpco.com/account/understandyourbill/pricing

Look at the resource mix in the center of NE ISO... Nat gas is tops in your area...

https://www.iso-ne.com/isoexpress/web/charts

BigBarney

[rberq]

I picked a utility in central Maine... Got their rates...CMP Power Co. ...

These are your TOU rates...$0.1218 peak and $0.0586 off peak.... $21.55 mo min with 50Kwhr...

Look at the resource mix in the center of NE ISO... Nat gas is tops in your area...

Yes, CMP is my power company. My actual rate from CMP last month, all on-peak, was a bit over 14 cents per KWH. That's higher than the peak because the first 50 KWH cost 42 cents each before the 12 cent charge kicks in. My actual rate would be even more -- 16 cents per KWH -- if all my usage were OFF-peak, due to the $38 flat fee on top of the per-KWH charge. These are purely the DELIVERY fees; there is an additional 11 cents per KWH for the electricity itself, which comes from a mix of different companies. So my total bill is about 25 cents per KWH, and I envy you your low rates.

As you pointed out, natural gas is our major generation fuel. Last year NG was very high -- my effective KWH rate was close to 30 cents -- so 25 cents now seems like a bargain.

[BigBarney]

Please post a copy of your bill...Realize that~110 days are weekends

and holidays so 30% are 100% off peak....$18.63 service fee...

The first rate is probably the one you want...

BigBarney

[rberq]

Please post a copy of your bill...Realize that~110 days are weekends
and holidays so 30% are 100% off peak....$18.63 service fee...

You are right, the lower service fee is the one that would apply to me. And I did not fully appreciate the effect of weekends and holidays. However, re-estimating my bills with all that in mind, it would likely still cost me more to switch to time-of-use, because the TOU on-peak rate exceeds the standard rate by considerably more than the standard rate exceeds the off-peak rate. (There, see if you can parse that sentence.)

Drying clothes and running the dishwasher are the only things I could easily switch to off-peak, and "easily" doesn't account for the extra noise during evenings. Replacing my heating functions with off-peak electricity would require significant investment in heat-storage equipment, offsetting the potential savings at least within my lifetime. But I will keep playing with the numbers and see whether I can make it work. Thanks for the ideas and input you have provided.