Regardless of energy savings, I would pay a hefty premium for a split refrigerator / freezer that eliminates compressor noise in my open plan kitchen / dining room / living room with wood floors…

I have been involved with various past efforts to integrate various appliances to “recover” heat. One problem is that the loads do not usually match well. Your refrigerator cycles on-and-off, day-and-night. Your HPWH might only run a couple of times a day, but for longer periods of time. When the refrigerator is running, its heat output (Btu/hr) is much lower than what your heat pump needs for heat input. If your refrigerator is a new and efficient model, the air coming off the condenser is probably not that much warmer than the air in the room, so it wouldn’t help that much anyway, especially since the HPWH probably needs a larger airflow rate than what is leaving the refrigerator.

Thanks for the link, I’ll follow up.

Conceptually I think I prefer to take the grid back from the current management structure and return it to communities.

But I am open to other thoughts.

Emmett: Yes, feeling much better now! Mostly recovered from surgery, which was six weeks ago yesterday. All my bladder problems are now a thing of the past…since my bladder is also in that category. :~)

Allison, good to see you typing, hope you are feeling better!
I need to do more reading, clearly.
Though must say when I told my better half about uncomfortably chilly basements and garages ( in some cases) she was interested in one in every room.
(Southern California desert residents and cooling is our greatest expense all year.)

I like your idea of heat energy storage/sink under the house, especially in the context of getting towards grid independence. Until then, ground-source heat pumps are kind of doing that (often incorrectly called “geothermal”).

Emmett: You capture that fridge heat with a heat pump water heater (HPWH). You don’t have to put the water heater in the kitchen to do it if get a HPWH that can be ducted.

So where do I go to buy a machine that delivers the excess heat from my cold box to my hot water tank? Stored heat to my cooking surfaces? I’m already pretty sure my fridge and hot water heater ought to be connected.

Perhaps two temperature reservoirs under my house, hot and cold; and heat pumps to shift it around as demanded?