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What explains the difference between heating systems in the USA?
(files.catbox.moe)
Community for asking and answering any question related to the life, the people or anything related to the USA. Non-US people are welcome to provide their perspective! Please keep in mind:
One reason is bad laws. I would love to replace my natural gas boiler and steam radiators with an electric heat pump system. It would be more efficient, cheaper to run, be able use solar power, and keep my house more comfortable.
But state law requires that buildings meet a specific efficiency requirement, which my house does not meet because it is 170 years old. I understand why they have that requirement for new construction, but it is stupid to not have an exception for old buildings.
I was looking at what I'd need to get a heat pump installed yesterday, before the state website even started discussing the different types there were links to weatherization programs and efficiency requirements. My house is about 70 years old, even with insulation updates in the 00s it's a drafty bitch
Our home is from the 19th century, but with modern insulation it's still fit to be heated with ACs and a heat pump. We've opted not to since that's a big ass unit and we're limited on space, but it could work.
We did have to replace isolation basically everywhere and we still need to replace some door frames, but the total cost was just a few thousand euros, before govt funding.
Doing almost all of the work yourselves saves a fuckton of money.