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tgma 7 days ago

If you don’t close the box of the system at some point to isolate the input, efficiency would be meaningless. I think in the context of the original post, suggesting running a server in winter would be a zero-waste endeavor if you need the heat anyway, it is perfectly clear that the input is electricity to your home at a certain $/kWh and gas at a certain $/BTU. Under that premise, it is fair to say that would not be true if you have a heat pump deployed but would be true compared to gas furnace in terms of efficiency (energy consumed for unit of heat), although not necessarily true economically.

hdgvhicv 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

Generating 1kWh of heat with electric/resistive is more expensive than gas, which itself is more expensive than a heat pump, based on the cost of fuel to go in

If your grid is fossil fuels burning the fuel directly is more efficient. In all cases a heat pump is more efficient.

mlyle 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I think this is pretty silly either way.

- There's an upstream loss on electricity directly in proportion to how much you use; ignoring this tilts the analysis in favor of electricity.

- You pay more for heat from electricity than gas, in part because of this loss.