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Is MicroCHP economic?

Started by Zarostulus, November 25, 2015, 12:28:35 PM

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Zarostulus

Novice question, please teach me. I've seen that these can be quite expensive to install, so how long would I be looking at before I saw a return on investment?

JamesH

Both the system and generation costs are cheaper, so it may be a while, but better to install one of these if you ever needed to install a new boiler.

RuskinF

MicroCHP is economic. Here is why:
Micro combined heat and power, micro-CHP, µCHP or mCHP is an extension of the idea of cogeneration to the single/multi family home or small office building in the range of up to 50 kW.[1] Usual technologies for the production of heat and power in one common process are e.g. internal combustion engines, micro gas turbines, stirling engines or fuel cells.


A micro cogeneration plant with 30 kW electric power and 65 kW heat output based on an internal combustion engine
Local generation has the potential for a higher efficiency than traditional grid-level generators since it lacks the 8-10% energy losses from transporting electricity over long distances. It also lacks the 10–15% energy losses from heat transport in heating networks due to the difference between the thermal energy carrier (hot water) and the colder external environment.

The most common systems use natural gas as their primary energy source and emit carbon dioxide; nevertheless the effective efficiency of CHP heat production is much higher than of a condensing boiler, and thus reducing emissions and fuel costs.