Do I need it ... No, but I want it. Rivian Truck

[sly_karma]

I'm working my way through the paperwork researching rebates and an interest free loan from the feds to switch to a heat pump in my home this spring. The AC unit is as old as the house, vintage 1986, and is surely beyond reasonable life expectancy. We will install a new heat pump that'll provide heat for about 80% of the Okanagan winter, leaving the newer gas furnace as backup for the colder periods. A big bonus will be the much quieter outdoor unit and improved power efficiency during the air conditioning season. We already have a 30 amp circuit for the AC and the contemplated new unit fits within that.

Next on the list for replacement would be clothes dryer, and a heat pump unit would be a good fit for us, a couple with no small kids at home. (Significant because the heat pump dryers take longer per load than conventional). Heat pump hot water tank needs some further thought - need to locate it so it doesn't turn the basement into a meat locker.

 

[Max123]

I'm working my way through the paperwork researching rebates and an interest free loan from the feds to switch to a heat pump in my home this spring. The AC unit is as old as the house, vintage 1986, and is surely beyond reasonable life expectancy. We will install a new heat pump that'll provide heat for about 80% of the Okanagan winter, leaving the newer gas furnace as backup for the colder periods. A big bonus will be the much quieter outdoor unit and improved power efficiency during the air conditioning season. We already have a 30 amp circuit for the AC and the contemplated new unit fits within that.

Next on the list for replacement would be clothes dryer, and a heat pump unit would be a good fit for us, a couple with no small kids at home. (Significant because the heat pump dryers take longer per load than conventional). Heat pump hot water tank needs some further thought - need to locate it so it doesn't turn the basement into a meat locker.

I have a Blomberg Heat pump dryer (DHP24400w). Its only a 24" model (apartment size), but it serves us perfectly well. The time to dry is the same as the washing machine wash cycle, so I think its fine. Energy consumption is 900W versus their traditional model which uses 2.5kw.

One reason I like the natural gas fireplace is because it doesn't require power to work. As such, during a power outage you still have heat. The efficiency is terrible, and they don't distribute heat very well at all - but they are serious workhorses, and are a perfect solution for addressing the limitations of heat pumps during those few winter peak load days when heat pump efficiency falls off a cliff, or power goes out. Also, as I mentioned, some of the really good incentive programs prohibit retaining the natural gas furnace, but have exceptions for natural gas fireplaces.

 

[Rain City]

I'm working my way through the paperwork researching rebates and an interest free loan from the feds to switch to a heat pump in my home this spring. The AC unit is as old as the house, vintage 1986, and is surely beyond reasonable life expectancy. We will install a new heat pump that'll provide heat for about 80% of the Okanagan winter, leaving the newer gas furnace as backup for the colder periods. A big bonus will be the much quieter outdoor unit and improved power efficiency during the air conditioning season. We already have a 30 amp circuit for the AC and the contemplated new unit fits within that.

Next on the list for replacement would be clothes dryer, and a heat pump unit would be a good fit for us, a couple with no small kids at home. (Significant because the heat pump dryers take longer per load than conventional). Heat pump hot water tank needs some further thought - need to locate it so it doesn't turn the basement into a meat locker.

We've installed a couple. 6" duct to outside for exhaust air, takes air from in the mech room. Bigger door gap or a vent into the room and Bob's your uncle. They seem to be doing a good job so far. Not sure if I'd do that without an HRV system balancing things out though.

 

[sly_karma]

I have a Blomberg Heat pump dryer (DHP24400w). Its only a 24" model (apartment size), but it serves us perfectly well. The time to dry is the same as the washing machine wash cycle, so I think its fine. Energy consumption is 900W versus their traditional model which uses 2.5kw.

One reason I like the natural gas fireplace is because it doesn't require power to work. As such, during a power outage you still have heat. The efficiency is terrible, and they don't distribute heat very well at all - but they are serious workhorses, and are a perfect solution for addressing the limitations of heat pumps during those few winter peak load days when heat pump efficiency falls off a cliff, or power goes out. Also, as I mentioned, some of the really good incentive programs prohibit retaining the natural gas furnace, but have exceptions for natural gas fireplaces.

Yes, looking at all those HVAC choices at present so we are ready for a spring changeout. We have an airtight wood stove for backup heat, or I could power the HVAC with 240V 30A available from the truck battery.

Efficiency of heat pumps in cooler weather has improved a lot. The cold climate versions are a big step up from what was around in the 80s/90s. I know of several in use at Apex and owners are very enthusiastic about their performance. But of course all have wood stoves as well, those are vulnerable power lines.

 

[Bill 310]

If your panel / feeder can support the load you don't need to talk to BC Hydro to ask permission. Its only if you want to do a service upgrade.

Thanks when we bought the house 8 years ago, we did renovations (with all required permits) and had a 240 line run to outside of the garage and blanked off.

So it appears that all I need to do is get a charger and hire a qualified installer.

 

[Bill 310]

I'm working my way through the paperwork researching rebates and an interest free loan from the feds to switch to a heat pump in my home this spring. The AC unit is as old as the house, vintage 1986, and is surely beyond reasonable life expectancy. We will install a new heat pump that'll provide heat for about 80% of the Okanagan winter, leaving the newer gas furnace as backup for the colder periods. A big bonus will be the much quieter outdoor unit and improved power efficiency during the air conditioning season. We already have a 30 amp circuit for the AC and the contemplated new unit fits within that.

Next on the list for replacement would be clothes dryer, and a heat pump unit would be a good fit for us, a couple with no small kids at home. (Significant because the heat pump dryers take longer per load than conventional). Heat pump hot water tank needs some further thought - need to locate it so it doesn't turn the basement into a meat locker.

We (ok I read a book waiting in the store) while my wife decided out what we wanted "we" bought a Miele set with a Heat pump dryer. It is a nice combo unit and the whole set runs on 120.

It has been an appliance festival at our house since I retired, The dishwasher, and fridge have also retired themselves. I am glad I have retired so that I have the time to wait for the appliance truck deliveries.

 

[InterMechanico]

We (ok I read a book waiting in the store) while my wife decided out what we wanted "we" bought a Miele set with a Heat pump dryer. It is a nice combo unit and the whole set runs on 120.

It has been an appliance festival at our house since I retired, The dishwasher, and fridge have also retired themselves. I am glad I have retired so that I have the time to wait for the appliance truck deliveries.

We opted for the Miele set as well. Heat pump dryer works great, and as a bonus (in winter) adds heat to our home instead of venting it outside

 

[Rain City]

We opted for the Miele set as well. Heat pump dryer works great, and as a bonus (in winter) adds heat to our home instead of venting it outside

Isn't that equally offset in the summer months?

 

[InterMechanico]

Isn't that equally offset in the summer months?

For me, yes. For my wife who's always to cold, it's a bonus year round .

In practice, we have the opportunity to capture that heat when it's desired, such as in the colder months. When we don't want the heat, we just let the heat escape outdoors

 

[Max123]

Isn't that equally offset in the summer months?

It is, but with qualifications. The heat pump does generate some heat however in my experience it isn't that much and certainly equal or less than the heat coming off a traditional electric dryer (there is no exposed hot ductwork). In our recent developments we have installed either an exhaust duct, or an ERV duct in the dryer closet to deal with whatever excess heat it generates - however in my own house I don't have any extra HVAC in the dryer closet and its fine.

One of the biggest advantages of a heat pump dryer is this:

When you operate a traditional clothes dryer, it is continuously exhausting hot air to the outside (which is inefficient for obvious reasons), but on the flip side - all that exhaust air means that more cold air is also being drawn into the house to replace everything being exhausted. Dryer exhaust air out, means replacement outside air drawn in around cracks in your building envelope that needs to get heated up by your HVAC system. The heat pump dryer doesn't exhaust or intake anything - it turns the water vapor back into liquid, and sends it down the drain.

Whenever you are drawing air into a house or exhausting it, you want the HVAC system to control those sources of airflow. Air shouldn't be coming in through cracks in the envelope - its a recipe for issues. Draftiness, condensation in walls, frozen pipes - all caused by imperfections in the building envelope that are made worse when you turn on the clothes dryer (or a massive range hood fan).

 

[2xeagle16]

This is an overall cost comparison of driving on EV compared to a gas powered car, in the US. Pump gas has dropped 25 percent since this article was written (August 2023) – so the difference is much greater today.

Some Cars Cheaper to Fuel with Gas Than Electric in 2023 – Anderson Economic Group, LLC

www.andersoneconomicgroup.com

 

[Umos]

Don’t see this holding up in Canada, with our higher gas prices and cheaper electricity. Pretty surprised that EV charging and ICE fueling is the same cost per mile even in the US, makes me think something is up w their methods

 

[fish brain]

This is an overall cost comparison of driving on EV compared to a gas powered car, in the US. Pump gas has dropped 25 percent since this article was written (August 2023) – so the difference is much greater today.

Some Cars Cheaper to Fuel with Gas Than Electric in 2023 – Anderson Economic Group, LLC

www.andersoneconomicgroup.com

Totally bogus article. No price per gallon figures, no price per kilowatt hour figures, just a bunch of pretty graphs with no real information to back them up.

 

[2xeagle16]

This is all costs considered – cost of insurance, costs of repairs, initial price of car, etc. Not just the cost of charging. Just by coincidence, Hertz is selling off their EV’s and buying gas powered cars to replace them – that should tell you something.

Rental giant Hertz dumps EVs, including Teslas, for gas cars | Reuters

I originally put this on SFBC as a separate thread from – “Do I need it ….No, but I want a Rivian Truck” Admin moved it.

 

[Aquaholic]

Just by coincidence, Hertz is selling off their EV’s and buying gas powered cars to replace them – that should tell you something.

Rental giant Hertz dumps EVs, including Teslas, for gas cars | Reuters

It was pointed out that many people who rent a car that do not already own an EV don’t want to take the time to get used to a new style of vehicle that they’ve never driven before during their rental period, or have to find a place to charge it while being unfamiliar with using charging stations. That’s the main reason that they’re getting rid of them. People are not choosing them to rent due to unfamiliarity. Not because EV’s are bad. In another five or 10 years, I could see it working as a rental car in a large fleet such as Hertz.

That should tell you something.

 

[Umos]

This is all costs considered – cost of insurance, costs of repairs, initial price of car, etc. Not just the cost of charging. Just by coincidence, Hertz is selling off their EV’s and buying gas powered cars to replace them – that should tell you something.

Rental giant Hertz dumps EVs, including Teslas, for gas cars | Reuters

I originally put this on SFBC as a separate thread from – “Do I need it ….No, but I want a Rivian Truck” Admin moved it.

Actually, the fact that Hertz is selling their EVs should tell you nothing at all. Aquaholic makes a good point about renters just wanting something they are familiar with. But also, what is the biggest cost savings from an EV relative to an ICE?...fuel. And how much of those savings accrue to Hertz?...none, as the renter pays for the fuel. The fact that Hertz is selling EVS is relevant for you, if you own Budget Car Rental. For a personal decision about your next car, it has almost no relevance. I say almost as Hertz's decision was based mostly on repair costs being higher for an EV, a fact which may lead to higher insurance costs for EVs at some point relative to ICE's, but that a pretty minor cost relative to other factors.

And the US study on the cost of ownership. If the total cost per mile of and EV and an ICE is almost awash in the US, what does that tell you about the relative costs in a country where gas costs more and electricity costs less than the US?

But regardless, confirmation bias will keep some people repeating strange facts and pushing facebook memes of skinny EV owners with limp dicks and no chicks. Just like with climate change denial, the tide will turn, EVs will be adopted, haters will get on board, we will all move on.

 

[sly_karma]

The rental companies dumped a lot of their fleets in 2020 as the full weight of the pandemic was becoming apparent. Normally the big outfits make deals with car makers to buy excess inventory at sharp discounts. But when they went to start rebuilding fleets as business and personal travel started to recover, there was no such thing as excess inventory. The supply chain snarls were in full swing and most auto makers were selling everything they could build but were still down 15-20% of production.

The one car builder who grew sales in 2021-22 was Tesla. With fewer parts to begin with, and more control over their supply chain, they had cars available when no one else did. So Hertz bought Teslas, and now their cycle in the rental system is coming to an end.

Having said that, I don't know that EV is a good fit for rental across the board yet. No one out there with a licence that doesn't know how to find a gas station and fill the tank, but that assumption is far from applicable society-wide for driving and charging an EV. It's not rocket surgery, but there's a learning curve. I don't know how well I'd do if I had to figure out public charging in a place and a vehicle I was unfamiliar with. I had a couple of years of waiting for my truck so I read everything I could get my hands on, and asked lots of questions. I had the home charger ready to go months before it arrived, and I scoped out quite a few public chargers ahead of time, downloaded all the apps amd set them up. I can't imagine being faced with acquiring all that knowledge in a few hours, it would be a hell of a cliff to climb.

 

[Max123]

This is all costs considered – cost of insurance, costs of repairs, initial price of car, etc. Not just the cost of charging. Just by coincidence, Hertz is selling off their EV’s and buying gas powered cars to replace them – that should tell you something.

Rental giant Hertz dumps EVs, including Teslas, for gas cars | Reuters

I originally put this on SFBC as a separate thread from – “Do I need it ….No, but I want a Rivian Truck” Admin moved it.

Hertz decided to sell off their fleet of Tesla for one reason: dealing with Tesla.

Hertz's proforma for each vehicle accounts for future re-sale value. In 2023, Tesla cut the price of a new Model 3/Y by about 25% which basically cut the knees out from all the rental companies that bought at the old price, and were planning to sell off after 1-2 years. Same thing happened to anyone selling a used Tesla - poof, worth $10k less. Likewise, Hertz said that Tesla wouldn't give them any bulk discounts on parts for repairs, and there were issues with dealer support. Tesla just doesn't operate like a traditional automaker and Hertz had enough.

Lastly, I was traveling recently in the US and rented from Hertz. I was offered the option of a model 3, however I don't own an EV and didn't want to experience the learning curve of dealing with charging in a foreign city/country. I suspect I'm not the only one. Trying to figure out charging in the US on a Canadian credit card and a Canadian cell phone... lots of potential for 'fun'.

 

[Gong Show]

Hertz decided to sell off their fleet of Tesla for one reason: dealing with Tesla.

Hertz's proforma factors on each vehicle accounts for future re-sale value. In 2023, Tesla cut the price of a new Model 3/Y by about 25% which basically cut the knees out from all the rental companies that bought at the old price, and were planning to sell off after 1-2 years. Same thing happened to anyone selling a used Tesla - poof, worth $10k less. Likewise, Hertz said that Tesla wouldn't give them any bulk discounts on parts for repairs, and there were issues with dealer support. Tesla just doesn't operate like a traditional automaker and Hertz had enough.

Lastly, I was traveling recently in the US and rented from Hertz. I was offered the option of a model 3, however I don't own an EV and didn't want to experience the learning curve of dealing with charging in a foreign city/country. I suspect I'm not the only one. Trying to figure out charging in the US on a Canadian credit card and a Canadian cell phone... lots of potential for 'fun'.

This brought back horrible memories of trying to purchase gas from the pump in the states after hours, it required I put in the zip code for the credit card.
Being of a certain age, I put in 90210. No dice. Horrible feeling.

 

[Bill 310]

This brought back horrible memories of trying to purchase gas from the pump in the states after hours, it required I put in the zip code for the credit card.
Being of a certain age, I put in 90210. No dice. Horrible feeling.

And like you, that story

brought back horrible memories of trying to purchase gas from the pump in the states after hours

The first time it happened to me 2002 I was in a long distance motorcycle event and I to was unaware of that issue.

The solution at that time was to get a Blaine mailing address and a new Canadian visa card issued to your Canadian address, then after a couple of months "move" your card to the US address. BTW I think everyone from Canada on that ride tried 90210.

The short term solution was to strap one of those 3 US gallon red plastic gas cans on your passenger seat.

What most of us did was have a 5 US gallon aluminum fuel cell built and plumbed into their bikes.

Most of us used a gravity feed system. It was always a satisfying moment when one's low fuel light came on and you just reached back , opened the valve and watched your gas gauge move up. Of course you got weird looks when you went in to pay for over 10 gallons of gas for your motorcycle.

I was never competitive or dedicated enough to consider the final time saver aka "the motormen's friend".