04-30-2021, 11:28 AM
(04-30-2021, 07:53 AM)mastermind Wrote: I can't pretend to be a mechanical expert but I think it means that the huge rooftop units that are typically gas powered are going to be run on electricity instead, and not that the suites will have baseboard heaters in each room. Presumably these large pieces of equipment are able to be made more efficient than baseboard heaters.
Not with electrical radiative heating. All electrical devices ultimately convert 100% of their incoming energy into heat with perfect efficiency; the only question is what else gets done by the energy on its way from electricity to heat and where the heat ends up. For example, light bulbs generate visible light which only turns into heat when it is absorbed; fans move air which improves comfort (but which ultimately heats the air); ovens and stoves cook food with the heat they generate, which is then absorbed into the surroundings; and so on.
Heat pumps are another matter.
This is why resistive electrical furnaces are a dumb idea: they have all the downsides of central air combined with the (historically) more expensive electrical energy. Either run the furnace on gas or use baseboard heaters. But again, heat pumps are another matter.
So my guess is the building will have large electric heat pumps.