As I said, I suppose first-generation cold fusion electric generators will resemble today's standby generators or solar installations. I do not know much about either of them. Perhaps AlanG can tell us about the costs and problems with solar installations, with inverters and so on.
This is only speculation but -- I suppose that first-generation devices will have moving parts. Perhaps they will be steam turbines. You need electricity all the time. Even in the middle of the night there are electric clocks, and "parasitic demand" from power supplies. You probably would not want a mechanical generator to run continuously. I suppose that a continuous duty cycle would cause the machine to wear out quickly. I can think of two ways to avoid this: 1. With a battery pack such as some solar installations use. That sounds expensive. 2. By using mains electricity below a certain threshold. For example you might set the machine to stay in standby mode until your household demand exceeds 1 kW. Your generator turns on and produces enough for your house, plus extra power which it feeds power back to the power company to reduce the power company bill. If total demand exceeds the capacity of your generator, you use more mains electricity. I do not know what a first generation machine might cost. I'm guessing something like $15,000 to $20,000. I base this on the cost of standby generators, and full-time generators used in remote locations. I am assuming the cold fusion device will operate with nickel which will make it cheap once mass production begins and competition begins. I do not know what the cost of inverters and the gadgets needed to feed power back to the electric company cost. Portable generators have only about a 2,000 hour lifespan. 20 kW standby generators cost only about $4,500. I doubt they would last long with continuous duty. I have not found any information on a full-time remote generator. There probably is not much of a market for that. I am assuming this would be a cogenerator, so it would reduce your equipment expenses somewhat. You do not have to pay for a space heating furnace which costs $1,000. This would save a great deal on your natural gas bill. In the distant future, I presume that thermoelectric devices will be perfected. Since they have no moving parts and will be no harm in leaving them online all the time with a constant duty cycle. By the time this happens the power companies will be out of business. Also, by this time, most large appliances will be self-powered, many of them directly with cold fusion heat, such as thermal refrigerators and air conditioners. Arthur Clarke suggested that with cold fusion stand-alone generators, and no connection to the power company, it would be safer to use DC rather than AC in the house. - Jed
