Who's rewired their house for this hobby?

[Chuck Guzis]

On 11/26/2014 11:13 PM, Geoff Oltmans wrote:

> Yeah, and heat pumps work great for heat until there is no heat in
> the outside air from which to extract. With my current (albeit aging)
> system, that temperature is around 28F, then it's on to the heat
> strips.

Some of the neighbors have buried evaporator lines around their yard 
(so-called "geothermal"  I've seen wells drilled for the same use.  VERY 
expensive, but very efficient, even with energy tax credits.  It really 
doesn't make much sense here on the "wet" side of the Cascades; we get 
perhaps a couple days of snow each winter--and it doesn't stick around.

One thing that was promoted for a time was the "heat pump" water heater 
(e.g. GE Geospring).  What with promotional pricing and energy credits, 
you could have one installed for free.  Terrible reliability from what I 
can tell from customer reviews.

If you want to see a very different take on electrical distribution, 
watch "Powerless" on the PBS series "Independent Lens".  Makes you 
appreciate even the worst US rat's nest wiring:

http://video.pbs.org/program/independent-lens/

(Good through Dec. 3)

--Chuck