I have woodstoves as well, but I’ll run the furnace fan to distribute the heat, so there’s a bit of use, and it’ll kick propane in if the fire burns down, or the heat pump if it’s above -15 outside and I have capacity. I tend to be around 10KW of usage but 23KW of panels struggles some days. After about 5 days of poor sun I’ll be out of reserve, and I fire up the genny for 5 hours to top them back up.
I’ve considered building a woodgas source for the genny, that would take me pretty much completely off the teat. I’d love to get a groundsource heat pump but those are mucho dinero.
I’ve also considered melting urea for a cooling source, since we farm and need N for the sprayer. It’s amazing how much heat the endothermic reaction takes, and using a sprayer for topdressing is much more precise than spreading dry fert.
I have woodstoves as well, but I’ll run the furnace fan to distribute the heat, so there’s a bit of use, and it’ll kick propane in if the fire burns down, or the heat pump if it’s above -15 outside and I have capacity. I tend to be around 10KW of usage but 23KW of panels struggles some days. After about 5 days of poor sun I’ll be out of reserve, and I fire up the genny for 5 hours to top them back up.
I’ve considered building a woodgas source for the genny, that would take me pretty much completely off the teat. I’d love to get a groundsource heat pump but those are mucho dinero.
I’ve also considered melting urea for a cooling source, since we farm and need N for the sprayer. It’s amazing how much heat the endothermic reaction takes, and using a sprayer for topdressing is much more precise than spreading dry fert.