Thread by @ChazTeplin

OK Folks – I promised my detailed review of my #ElectrifyEverything experience, including a review of, and electricity data from, my @span electric panel. If you are a real #ElectrifyEverything dork, this thread is for you! 1/x

Context: Last summer, I bought a Colorado Front Range townhouse, expecting to electrify it. The house is 3 levels and ~2400 sq ft. It had old appliances: ducted HVAC, A/C, gas furnace, gas hot water heater. I also replaced my ICE car with an EV. 2/x

As described in @BoulderRL, I had to find the right contractor that could do a ducted heat pump, the water heater, EV charging, and all the associated electrical work. I bought and read @energysmartwv 's guide and tried to go “full send“ on HVAC 2.0 tinyurl.com/4tsbafmv (3/x)

Electrically, I needed to solve for my inadequate 100 A panel. My townhouse config made a 200 A upgrade impractical. So I went with a @span_io panel that could shut off individual circuits in the rare times the house would exceed 100A. (3/x)

It has now been 2+ months and time to report-out. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE HOME EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN GREAT. I have a cool home, a fast-charging EV, hot water, and cold beer. So, no compromises! (4/x)

The @Span_io performs as promised. The app is … good! An intuitive interface – current and historical data at 10 minute time intervals, circuit by circuit, whether home or away. I can shut off individual circuits (rarely needed). It is easy to use and no bugs so far (5/x)

As an aside, props to the @Span_IO team for this. I’ve done a tiny bit of software and know pulling this quality UX off on a complex hardware product is an incredible feat. Also thanks to them for providing me the raw data on my home so I could make the plots below (6/x)

So what have I learned about my home’s performance so far? The heat pump, EV charger, hot water, and dryer dominate my energy use (as expected). In July and August, my average power draw has been 1.15 kW (7/x)

I expected the heat pump hot water heater to have smoother energy use but it obviously kicks on once or twice a day, creating a very spiky load. Does anyone know if this is normal? I will sign up with Xcel demand response program to make this easier on the grid. (8/x)

With the heat and my preference for a cool house, the heat pump runs a lot. It runs the most at night and early AM as I precool the house, let it warm up during the heat of the day, then cool it again before bedtime. (9/x)

EV charger can push >10 kW into the car if I want – creating an extremely spiky load. Since 10 kW is faster than I normally need, I’ve since limited charging speed to ~3 kW. I’ve also told the car to wait until 11 PM to charge, as this is when CO’s grid is cleanest.(10/x)

For the grid's sake, we absolutely must must must get managed EV charging right! (11/x)

OK. That’s all for now. All the kudos to those of you working on making electrification feasible. The tech is ready! @GriffithSaul @rewiringamerica @energysmartwv @elephant_energy

(Shoot, that should be @span_io)