That massive spike of 50c/kWh at the left looks tiny compared to today even though that’s already insanely expensive

  • BigDickEnergy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    If you’re in a granny cottage then just burn wood instead? Doing this rn and am very happy to go off-grid for ca. 48 hours

    • Critical_Insight@feddit.ukOP
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      1 year ago

      I unfortunelately don’t have a fireplace in my house. It was removed when the house was renovated in the 80’s

      • Thassodar@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        In a place where it’s regularly cold? Whose brilliant idea was that?!

        • Critical_Insight@feddit.ukOP
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          1 year ago

          When I said my house is tiny I truly mean that. I don’t even have space for a medium size house plant let alone a fireplace. The attic was converted into living space and I believe the fireplace used to be where the stairs are now.

          I have a wood burning sauna on a separate building though

            • Critical_Insight@feddit.ukOP
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              1 year ago

              Yeah I have considered it. There’s just no good place for the chimney either. It would need to go thru the wall and past the eaves on either of the two sides of the building that the roof is not sloping towards to because else falling snow is going to rip it off in the winter.

              • Chriswild@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                You could heat it from a fire outside with a boiler and a radiator. I’m not sure if they have those for sale in Finland but they’re a thing in the US.

                • BenPranklin@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  I hear this a lot since we converted to heat pumps. People don’t realize basically every heat source these days other than wood needs electricity. We kept our oil system as a backup for very cold days but it also doesn’t work with no power.

                  • bluewing@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    There are cheap ways to run a backup heat source. I installed a generator, which makes sense for my very rural location. But before the whole house automatic genset, I used a $100US switch that would allow me to run my LP furnace on a small portable generator. All the furnace requires is 110/120VAC to operate. Something cheaply and easily supplied by a small gasoline powered portable for less than $500US.

                • bluewing@lemm.ee
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                  1 year ago

                  Back up generators if the expected outage is to last more than one day - and sometimes it can.

              • ansiz@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                I know it’s not uncommon for the chimney to go through the eaves for more support, if that’s an option for you. I know someone in Alaska with a tiny house that did something like that, with a wall mounted tiny stove and it was pretty impressive!

          • barsoap@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            That sauna sounds like a candidate to hook up to the heat pump if you ask me.

          • sizzler@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Diesel heater set up properly maybe the way, just not sure how well it would work kept outdoors at those temperatures.

      • DanglingFury@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        At 50 bucks a day it would pay for itself pretty quickly. Not sure what prices are by you but here you can get a brand new stove with auto-temp and a catalytic converter and everything installed for 10k to 12k, or get a decent used stove and have someone install it for 5k ±

        • Critical_Insight@feddit.ukOP
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          1 year ago

          Today is highly unusual. Never before in recorded history has the price climbed anywhere near this high. Last year we had record high electricity prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and even then the average price for the year was 18c/kWh. This year it has been around 12c/kWh I think.

          • DanglingFury@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            That’s akin to our rates, im about 13c/kwh delivered. I use about 1.2 to 1.5 mwh per month (with natural gas furnace and wood stove), so 2.50$/kwh would make me shut my house off at the breaker and call it camping.

      • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        How about a small propane heater, like a Mr Buddy type unit? Those can be connected to a extension hose and a 20lb propane tank, and are safe to use indoors with adequate ventilation.

        I got one for emergency heat, and it can take 2 of the 1lb propane cylinders directly, or the 20lb tank with a hose. The 20lb tank could provide heat for over 24 hours but IDK how expensive propane is there. It cost me $18 for a 4-pack of the 1lb cylinders, and I think the 20lb ones are about $50 range.

    • neo@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      So you’re BigDickEnergy in a granny cottage, heating the place with your wood to get off grid. Nice!