1 00:00:00,060 --> 00:00:04,080 I want to talk about an invention you likely take for granted. 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:05,259 Your furnace. 3 00:00:05,259 --> 00:00:09,090 If you live in an area that gets pretty cold during the winter time, odds are you have 4 00:00:09,090 --> 00:00:11,830 a gas-fired furnace heating your home. 5 00:00:11,830 --> 00:00:16,450 Since you have gas lines in your house, you likely cook with a gas-fired stove and oven, 6 00:00:16,450 --> 00:00:20,460 and if you have a clothes dryer it is likely also fueled with gas. 7 00:00:20,460 --> 00:00:25,440 Even rural areas that don't have the infrastructure to deliver natural gas via pipelines typically 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,560 will utilize gas fired furnaces that run on propane, with businesses similar to Hank Hill’s 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,250 refilling the tanks of farm dwellers Nationwide. 10 00:00:33,250 --> 00:00:37,570 Now you probably know that for every one of these gas-fired inventions, there exists an 11 00:00:37,570 --> 00:00:39,630 electric counterpart. 12 00:00:39,630 --> 00:00:44,730 Electric furnaces are indeed a thing and can be used to provide heat to the living space. 13 00:00:44,730 --> 00:00:45,810 Electric stoves are very common. 14 00:00:45,810 --> 00:00:48,910 And electric clothes dryers are very common too. 15 00:00:48,910 --> 00:00:52,630 In fact in areas that don't get that cold, you'll often see most of these appliances 16 00:00:52,630 --> 00:00:54,530 being largely Electric. 17 00:00:54,530 --> 00:00:58,800 So then, why has the use of natural gas for the furnace and other appliances remained 18 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,280 a staple of the midwestern home and elsewhere? 19 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,909 Well the answer is simple, and it has to do with efficiency. 20 00:01:04,909 --> 00:01:08,200 But as we’re about to see, this is going to change. 21 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:12,649 For now, a furnace like this is designed to burn a fuel such as natural gas and release 22 00:01:12,649 --> 00:01:15,719 the heat of that fuel into the living space. 23 00:01:15,719 --> 00:01:20,070 Furnaces are wonderful at doing this, even the most basic gas-fired furnaces are 80% 24 00:01:20,070 --> 00:01:21,370 efficient or more. 25 00:01:21,370 --> 00:01:25,999 This means that they release at least 80% of the heat energy contained in natural gas 26 00:01:25,999 --> 00:01:27,619 into the living space. 27 00:01:27,619 --> 00:01:31,740 In areas that remain cold for a long period of the year, having an efficient furnace is 28 00:01:31,740 --> 00:01:33,120 very very important. 29 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,080 Now, gas-fired furnaces are usually 80 to 90% efficient. 30 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,829 But electric heat is actually 100% efficient. 31 00:01:40,829 --> 00:01:41,829 Sort of. 32 00:01:41,829 --> 00:01:42,930 We’ll get back to that. 33 00:01:42,930 --> 00:01:44,569 Electric heat is incredibly simple. 34 00:01:44,569 --> 00:01:47,609 This is a $10 space heater that works just fine. 35 00:01:47,609 --> 00:01:51,759 It's able to be so cheap because all it is is a coil of nichrome wire and a fan to blow 36 00:01:51,759 --> 00:01:53,350 air past the wire. 37 00:01:53,350 --> 00:01:57,340 The most expensive component in this space heater is likely the fan motor. 38 00:01:57,340 --> 00:02:02,109 Just as a point of comparison, this heater puts out 5,120 btus, and the furnace for my 39 00:02:02,109 --> 00:02:04,369 apartment delivers 45,000. 40 00:02:04,369 --> 00:02:08,229 So less than 9 of these little guys could replace the furnace, maybe even fewer since 41 00:02:08,229 --> 00:02:13,310 furnaces are typically sized a little larger than required to combat nastily cold days. 42 00:02:13,310 --> 00:02:17,250 Of course space heaters are a terrible source of permanent heat for many many reasons, most 43 00:02:17,250 --> 00:02:21,280 important of which is safety, but nevertheless it would work if there were enough separate 44 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,420 circuits throughout the apartment to power them all together. 45 00:02:24,420 --> 00:02:28,049 Electric heat is so simple because all you need to do is run an electric current through 46 00:02:28,049 --> 00:02:31,890 a resistive material, and that material will heat up. 47 00:02:31,890 --> 00:02:36,489 100% of the electrical energy you put through that material will be released as heat. 48 00:02:36,489 --> 00:02:39,980 This is the reason why electric heat is itself 100% efficient. 49 00:02:39,980 --> 00:02:44,360 See when we talk about making electronic devices more energy efficient, we are actually talking 50 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:46,470 about reducing wasted heat. 51 00:02:46,470 --> 00:02:50,069 That's why modern LED lights bulbs are so much more efficient than their Antiquated 52 00:02:50,069 --> 00:02:55,060 incandescent counterpart--per unit of light, they waste less energy as heat. 53 00:02:55,060 --> 00:03:00,519 But when your goal is to create heat, you can't get it any more efficient than 100%. 54 00:03:00,519 --> 00:03:01,519 Sort of. 55 00:03:01,519 --> 00:03:03,060 Hold on, I promise we’re getting somewhere. 56 00:03:03,060 --> 00:03:07,170 A gas-fired furnace compared to a space heater is incredibly complex. 57 00:03:07,170 --> 00:03:11,370 It requires a sophisticated control system to monitor and regulate gas flow as well as 58 00:03:11,370 --> 00:03:13,500 ignite the flames upon startup. 59 00:03:13,500 --> 00:03:17,880 It requires an expensive heat exchanger to actually combust the gas safely and get the 60 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,099 exhaust from this process away from the living space. 61 00:03:21,099 --> 00:03:25,650 And it requires multiple fans and motors to both expel exhaust and move air through the 62 00:03:25,650 --> 00:03:26,720 furnace. 63 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:31,349 But putting up with all of this makes far more sense in cold climates then using electric 64 00:03:31,349 --> 00:03:32,349 heat. 65 00:03:32,349 --> 00:03:37,189 See, although electric heat itself is 100% Efficient, Electric power generation is nowhere 66 00:03:37,189 --> 00:03:38,540 near that amount. 67 00:03:38,540 --> 00:03:43,409 So long as we continue to use fossil fuels to generate electricity, then using the fossil 68 00:03:43,409 --> 00:03:46,360 fuel itself to heat makes far more sense. 69 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:51,090 A typical natural gas-fired electric power plant will be about 40% efficient. 70 00:03:51,090 --> 00:03:55,019 Subtract a few percentage points for transmission losses (though in reality transmission losses 71 00:03:55,019 --> 00:03:58,849 are very small across the electric grid), and you're looking at a fuel to heat efficiency 72 00:03:58,849 --> 00:04:02,840 of about 37% or so for an electric space heater. 73 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:07,120 This means that even the most basic gas-fired furnace uses less than half the amount of 74 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,700 fuel to produce the same amount of heat. 75 00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:14,290 And that means that gas heat is a lot cheaper than electric heat, and it uses far less of 76 00:04:14,290 --> 00:04:16,500 our precious natural resources. 77 00:04:16,500 --> 00:04:21,220 And thus in cold climates, it makes far more sense to have natural gas infrastructure capable 78 00:04:21,220 --> 00:04:25,510 of delivering the gas itself to homes and businesses then it does to rely solely on 79 00:04:25,510 --> 00:04:27,320 electricity for heat. 80 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,780 A lot of natural gas would be wasted if it was only used to generate electricity. 81 00:04:31,780 --> 00:04:34,569 But this is almost certainly going to change. 82 00:04:34,569 --> 00:04:40,290 Our electric grid is very soon going to become 100% renewable, or at least zero percent fossil-fuel 83 00:04:40,290 --> 00:04:42,060 if nuclear power remains viable. 84 00:04:42,060 --> 00:04:48,220 To be clear, very soon probably doesn't mean in the next 10 years or so, but likely within 85 00:04:48,220 --> 00:04:49,470 our lifetimes. 86 00:04:49,470 --> 00:04:53,551 As solar and wind energy continues to get cheaper and more ubiquitous, the electric 87 00:04:53,551 --> 00:04:57,430 grid will become larger with less resources required to fuel it. 88 00:04:57,430 --> 00:05:01,509 Now of course we have energy storage and demand problems to get sorted out, but I have faith 89 00:05:01,509 --> 00:05:06,060 that with the Monstrous projects Humanity has taken on in the past, we'll find a way 90 00:05:06,060 --> 00:05:07,180 around it. 91 00:05:07,180 --> 00:05:11,890 Once we have an electric grid capable of heating everyone's homes with electricity, and it’s 92 00:05:11,890 --> 00:05:16,310 able to do so at a cost that is less than Natural Gas or propane, you should expect 93 00:05:16,310 --> 00:05:21,070 to see electric stoves, electric dryers and electric furnaces in every home. 94 00:05:21,070 --> 00:05:24,889 This will come with so many advantages to help make our lives more enjoyable. 95 00:05:24,889 --> 00:05:29,090 For one thing, electric heat is so much more reliable than gas-fired Heat. 96 00:05:29,090 --> 00:05:33,660 One of the most reliable sources of electric heat is the radiant baseboard heater. 97 00:05:33,660 --> 00:05:37,550 These are still fairly common in older apartment buildings, and you can buy them new for new 98 00:05:37,550 --> 00:05:39,130 construction. 99 00:05:39,130 --> 00:05:44,150 Electric baseboard heating does have the disadvantage of taking up some visible space in every room, 100 00:05:44,150 --> 00:05:47,560 but it is completely silent and lacks any moving Parts whatsoever. 101 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:52,000 It is common to not have to replace these for decades if at all. 102 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,080 Plus, if installed correctly, they offer a comfort advantage as they create a flow of 103 00:05:56,080 --> 00:06:01,139 warm air rising in front of windows and outside walls, creating an air curtain that reduces 104 00:06:01,139 --> 00:06:02,139 drafts. 105 00:06:02,139 --> 00:06:06,030 But did you know there is actually an electric heating solution that is not 100% efficient, 106 00:06:06,030 --> 00:06:09,270 but up to 400% efficient? 107 00:06:09,270 --> 00:06:13,900 Now before you start saying that breaks the laws of thermodynamics, trust me, it doesn’t. 108 00:06:13,900 --> 00:06:15,980 I'm talking about a heat pump. 109 00:06:15,980 --> 00:06:19,759 Heat pumps are amazing things that have been around for quite a while but are only just 110 00:06:19,759 --> 00:06:21,360 now picking up steam. 111 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:26,400 A heat pump is essentially a modified air conditioner that is able to operate in reverse. 112 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:31,379 See, air conditioners actually move three to four times as much energy than they consume. 113 00:06:31,379 --> 00:06:36,880 An 8000 BTU air conditioner and heat pump might only use a quarter of the electricity 114 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,680 that an 8000 BTU resistive space heater would. 115 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,069 This means that even with a natural gas fired power plant, a heat pump can move more heat 116 00:06:45,069 --> 00:06:52,330 energy into a living space than the natural gas itself contains, as 37% times 4 is 148 117 00:06:52,330 --> 00:06:53,360 percent. 118 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,610 This is possible because the mechanical energy of the compressor in an air conditioner is 119 00:06:57,610 --> 00:07:02,050 used to move a refrigerant from a low pressure state to a high pressure state, and it’s 120 00:07:02,050 --> 00:07:07,120 the phase-change that occurs from gas to liquid and back again inside a pair of heat exchangers 121 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:12,479 that actually absorbs and expels energy, moving heat energy from one place to another across 122 00:07:12,479 --> 00:07:13,590 a barrier. 123 00:07:13,590 --> 00:07:17,870 I'm going to talk about this more in a later video, but for now, know that the heat pump 124 00:07:17,870 --> 00:07:21,389 is very likely going to become more and more popular. 125 00:07:21,389 --> 00:07:25,750 Right now they don't work so well in climates like mine because when the temperature outside 126 00:07:25,750 --> 00:07:30,039 drops below freezing, the efficiency of a heat pump diminishes rapidly. 127 00:07:30,039 --> 00:07:34,780 However, heat pumps are being combined with geothermal heat sources which circulate a 128 00:07:34,780 --> 00:07:39,060 heat transfer fluid underground to pick up heat from Earth's crust. 129 00:07:39,060 --> 00:07:43,580 These systems maintain a high efficiency level even on the coldest of days. 130 00:07:43,580 --> 00:07:47,850 While editing this video, I realized I needed to clarify one thing about heat pumps. 131 00:07:47,850 --> 00:07:53,310 The fact that their efficiency diminishes below freezing isn’t the biggest problem. 132 00:07:53,310 --> 00:07:58,290 Even in temperatures far below freezing, they often can move more energy than they consume. 133 00:07:58,290 --> 00:08:02,490 But along with getting less efficient, their actual heat output also drops. 134 00:08:02,490 --> 00:08:06,300 So even though a heat pump may be producing twice the amount of heat energy for the living 135 00:08:06,300 --> 00:08:10,849 space as it consumes, the fact is that it’s now providing less heat. 136 00:08:10,849 --> 00:08:15,319 So while a heat pump may provide 20,000 btus of heat when it’s 45 degrees fahrenheit 137 00:08:15,319 --> 00:08:20,389 outside, about 7 celsius, it might only produce half that when it’s 20 degrees outside, 138 00:08:20,389 --> 00:08:21,940 about minus 7. 139 00:08:21,940 --> 00:08:26,669 Without a geothermal system in place to absorb heat from, the heat pump must be supplemented 140 00:08:26,669 --> 00:08:30,030 by a second type of heat. 141 00:08:30,030 --> 00:08:34,719 Now I happen to know that PTACs, the air conditioning and heater units commonly found in hotels, 142 00:08:34,719 --> 00:08:37,719 are starting to also incorporate a heat pump. 143 00:08:37,719 --> 00:08:41,599 This makes sense because a heat pump is really just an air conditioner with a couple of reversing 144 00:08:41,599 --> 00:08:43,010 valves added. 145 00:08:43,010 --> 00:08:46,410 These newer units can tell when it’s too cold outside for the heat pump to provide 146 00:08:46,410 --> 00:08:51,110 enough heat, and will automatically switch to using the resistive heater when necessary. 147 00:08:51,110 --> 00:08:54,670 I think that this sort of logic might as well be incorporated into a general heating and 148 00:08:54,670 --> 00:08:58,700 cooling system, as in the spring and fall months, even in a cold climate, there are 149 00:08:58,700 --> 00:09:00,649 times that a heat pump could be effective. 150 00:09:00,649 --> 00:09:04,450 If you’re installing an air conditioner, you might as well spend the extra dollars 151 00:09:04,450 --> 00:09:05,650 and make it a heat pump. 152 00:09:05,650 --> 00:09:07,590 Anyway, back to the rest of the video. 153 00:09:07,590 --> 00:09:11,910 To be clear, the gas-fired furnace is going to stick around for a little while. 154 00:09:11,910 --> 00:09:15,950 Until the point where electricity gets cheap enough, and heat pumps become popular and 155 00:09:15,950 --> 00:09:21,130 effective enough to provide cheaper heat than a traditional furnace, well natural gas heat 156 00:09:21,130 --> 00:09:22,780 still going to be popular. 157 00:09:22,780 --> 00:09:27,260 But it is already the case that solar and wind energy are cheaper than fossil fuels. 158 00:09:27,260 --> 00:09:32,030 After all, once a solar panel is constructed, it captures energy from the Sun and doesn't 159 00:09:32,030 --> 00:09:34,920 need any sort of fuel to create electricity. 160 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,140 The Same goes for wind power. 161 00:09:37,140 --> 00:09:41,040 Once a feasible storage solution is figured out to deal with the intermittency problems 162 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,690 of wind and solar, nearly our whole world will be powered with electricity. 163 00:09:45,690 --> 00:09:49,660 And when that happens, well there will be no need for gas lines anymore. 164 00:09:49,660 --> 00:09:52,780 Thanks for watching this video on technology connections. 165 00:09:52,780 --> 00:09:56,850 If you like videos like this, I humbly ask that you hit the thumbs-up And subscribe to 166 00:09:56,850 --> 00:09:58,320 technology connections. 167 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,520 I'm doing my best to keep videos like this coming your way. 168 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:02,540 I'll see you next time.