Author Archives: lukefrugalev

The Pickering nuclear plant has been a reliable back bone of Ontario’s energy mix for well over five decades. But in 2026, it must either shut down or undergo serious (e.g. expensive) renovations to continue to produce power. The site sits in the heart of the greater Toronto area (GTA), and could lead to someContinue reading “What to do about Pickering Nuclear?”

Price of electricity varies greatly depending on the time of day. Here in Ontario, 1 kWh will cost you 3c at night, but 30c during peak hours. This is where a home battery might comes in handy, why not charge up during the the night on cheap-electrons, and discharge during expensive hours? Lets explore theContinue reading “Home battery economics”

Ski-fewer got you down? Why not hit the slopes at Mount St. Louis Moonstone? Its only 150 km from Toronto, so an easy day trip, even in a 5 year old 2018 Nissan Leaf. Charging is available (albeit expensive) at the ski-resort so no need to charge really, unless you prefer cheaper charging, there isContinue reading “Mount St. Louis Moonstone”

During icing conditions, heat-pumps have to de-ice themselves to keep heating your home. This is something that does happen, from time to time, but most heat-pumps have the ability to briefly de-ice themselves (running in AC mode usually) which melts the ice in a few minutes, giving it the ability to keep heating your homeContinue reading “My heat-pump is frozen”

There is some verbiage online suggesting you should not use a schedule on your heat-pump (source). While we have largely suggested that you do. Lets get into the science a bit and see the arguments on either side. Briefly, as heat-pumps generally produce less heat, they will struggle to raise the temperature in your houseContinue reading “To schedule or not to schedule your heat-pump usage?”

While there are a few 7 seater EVs out there, the selection is a little skimpy. Hence one may have to settle for a plug in hybrid, like the Mazda CX-90. On a recent trip to California, I gave it a spin. Cabin space is excellent, with lots of leg room, even in the thirdContinue reading “Driving the Mazda CX-90 plug in hybrid”

While electric vehicle (EV) sales are still growing, (source), some automakers expected a faster growth (source), this combined with generous incentives, particularly in some jurisdictions has combined to create a golden opportunity for those in the market for a new EV. So golden, than some models are now cheaper than their gas powered equivalents, atContinue reading “Is this price parity?”

Having had our heat-pump for a couple of months now, we have some experience configuring it. Briefly, the heat-pump will produce heat down to -27 C, but performance is progressively reduced once it gets colder. Thus, depending on your home insulation, climate control settings etc. you need to choose what Daikin (our heat-pump brand) callsContinue reading “Balancing your heat-pump and gas”

Not a very scientific venture by any means, but lets have a look at my de-identified friend group to see which of my friends have gone electric? We find significant uptake among suburban two car households, with one road-tripper, and one commuter car. If my friends are representative of society en large, there is stillContinue reading “Friend Survey, who is buying electric vehicles?”

There is no need to use “fossil gas” to heat your home, in fact a cold climate heat pump can substantially reduce the amount of gas used to heat your home, if the winter is mild enough, perhaps all the way to zero. Lets kick of our discussion of heat-pumps by looking at the economics.Continue reading “Heat-Pump economics”