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Comment by pjc50 | Hacker News Reader

I don't think it ever makes sense to switch to electric radiators. It might make sense to switch to a heatpump, but you need to avoid being hugely overcharged by the installers and there are flow issues if you have 8mm piping.

This ROI calculator looks reasonable: https://ukcalculator.com/solar-panel-roi-calculator.html - note that it subtracts the install cost for you, so any case where the final figure is positive is profitable. But of course that depends on whether grid prices go up or down in the next decade ...

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Well France did move to electric everything (cooking, hot water, heating) in the past thanks to ample nuclear electricity production (and possibly not too harsh winters). Unfortunately they let their nuclear programme decay and are struggling now (EU grid integration does not help)...

I think a big part of the push to install heat pumps now is that it is understood that electricity production is in dire straights, taking into account that the transition to EV requires a lot of electricity.

Part of the struggle is that renewables have state aid exceptions, enabling massive taxpayer funded subsidisation of the """industry"""

> hot water, heating

Not really. Urban flats frequently got resistive heating (rather than heat pumps) but when France finally phased out furnace oil it phased in gas heating (again instead of heat pumps).

And EU grid integration was mostly a boon, at least to EDF, with the country able to export its large stable supply and arbitrage between its neighbours.

It largely missed its opportunity and should have ramped up electric use way more aggressively in the 90s. And built up research labs and industrial and practical knowledge in heat pumps and batteries tech.

What "not really"? Electric hot water and electric heating is very common. Almost 40% of homes have electric heating and that's the top heating type [1]...

[1] https://franfinance.com/les-francais-et-le-chauffage-de-leur...

> Almost 40% of homes have electric heating and that's the top heating type

It's 40% of households not homes, and per your link it's 55% of rentals.

That's the urban flats I mentioned, they use inefficient resistive heating because that's cheap to install (no plumbing and no vents, just the electrician adding a circuit per radiator from the box).

So, leaving aside your nitpicking about households vs homes (which are synonymous here), you agree with me then? What was the point of your comments?

> So, leaving aside your nitpicking about households vs homes (which are synonymous here)

The mistranslation gives the incorrect impression that owners have migrated their personal residences to resistive heating and that this is the normal heating method for the country.

Landlords cheaping out on heating is a completely different situation, and does not support your assertion. Especially with (again per your link) renters are significantly less satisfied with their heating situation than owners.

> you agree with me then

No.

I think you are either being argumentative for the sake of it, or you are confused about the meaning of "homes", or both.

I think both.

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