Perhaps consider an alternative heating method. For example several years ago I had a wood burning fireplace insert installed. Using a programmable thermostat my gas fired hot air heating system assures that the house never goes below a defined comfortable temperature. When I get home from work a few logs will quickly boost the interior temp to comfy levels. Then at bedtime adding a few logs and setting the damper provides sufficient heating to where the furnace doesn't kick in until morning. Many times enough heat to last well into the morning.
Of course a side benefit is not being locked into a single fuel heating source.
I was wondering if I would replace my gas furnace with a heat pump, but they just announced a 72% rate increase here for electricity starting in July (despite the fact that we get over 90% of our electricity from nuclear and coal around here). Makes me wonder if a heat pump would really work for me next winter...
The numbers can be run to give you a good idea of what the usage would be for a "standard" year and if you choose an expected cost over the next ten years or so, you should be able to do the math and figure out the best bet. The real problem is unless you have some very cheap gas or electric and little chance of it changing, you will always have some chance of guessing wrong.
The cost for DECOMMISSIONING a nuke is built-into the utility's rates. This cost was originally determined when the unit was built.
I suspect, however, they gave little thought to spent fuel disposal. So far, most of it still resides at the station - at the bottom of a tank of boron.
It will "soon" be transported to Yucca Mountain for permanent disposal (storage).
An air-source (electric) heat pump MIGHT be worth considering in your case.
I predict you'll soon see the price of NG decline significantly due to the unusually mild winter. I believe the price is already falling in many areas.
I just swapped-out my natural draft furnace for a "92.8%" efficient, condensing gas furnace. Check back in a year or so but, after "living" with the new furnace for only three weeks, I suspect my gas bill will go DOWN noticeably despite rate increases.
I recommend that you stay with natural gas for your space heating.
They already are paying the costs for disposal. All owners of nuclear plants are now paying hundreds of millions into a govt fund that is going to pay for the Yucca Flat disposal site.
Did you verify that with your supplier? I don't see why you can't just cap off the gas line to the existing hear and keep the stove and any other appliances you have.
Joey- If you're in SW Georgia, and you're not living in some 1/2 acre house, then you've got some more conserving to do.
I live in a 100+ yr old 3BR farmhouse in upstate NY & my utilities only run about $300 a month. I have an oil furnace, a propane space heater, stove, dryer & water heater. We keep the house at 70 during the day- set back to 65 at night.
Our electricity has gone from 12 to 16cents a KWh. Oil from $1.99 to $2.40, and LP from $2.20 to $2.45. [hardly doubled-- but the media is still screaming about soaring utility costs---- we've had such a mild winter my costs are just about where they were last year at this time.]
Note that my electric has gone up the most-- and it has done that in the past 2 months as my gas & oil have been going down.
The only way to figure out if switching would be feasible-- at current rates- is to have your suppliers run the numbers. And there are no guarantees that next year won't be just the opposite.
What are you paying for gas and electricity per unit?
If your electric and gas rates are anything like mine, it would get even worse with electric heating.
Where I live (in New Jersey), electricity costs 3.6 times as much as gas, per BTU consumed.
Regards,
Mark
p.s. to compare rates, you'll need to know the conversion factors. Our electric bill shows energy use in kW-hours. Our gas bill shows energy usage in terms of "therms". Multiply your electric rate (given in dollars per kW-hour) times 29.3, this will give your electric rate in dollars per therm, which you can compare directly to the gas rate.
In another message about heat pumps, I spoke of the importance of improving the thermal performance of your home. Insulation and air sealing are perhaps your best protection against rising energy costs and, as an added bonus, both can help make your home more comfortable.
Some improvements, such as replacing windows and doors or the installation of a new heating system are difficult to justify unless these products are nearing the end of their useful life or their performance is so woefully deficient that an early change out makes sense. Other measures, such as caulking and weather stripping, plastic window kits, low flow shower heads or additional attic insulation can be done at modest cost and typically by the homeowner himself. A no cost option with a big payback: washing laundry in cold water.
Through a whole series of upgrades (including new windows and doors and new heating system), I reduced my home's energy consumption by over eighty per cent. In some cases, the economic payback couldn't be justified based on the energy savings alone, but there were other good reasons to go ahead and do the work. Sometimes, it was the simple satisfaction of eliminating waste and inefficiency wherever they may be, and knowing that each of us can make a positive impact, no matter how small. Whatever the motivator, there are any number of steps you can take to control of your energy costs.
And for those contemplating a switchover from gas to electric, how about using portable electric heaters to offset some of your gas consumption? This eliminates the risk and expense of replacing your existing gas furnance and provides you with the flexibility of easily switching fuels based on their current price. Oil filled electric heaters are relatively inexpensive and probably the safest to use. Then, after one or two power bills, you'll be in a better position to decide if electric heat is truly the smarter choice.
What about the loss of energy when transmitting through electrical cables? Vs. gas which I don't believe looses mcuh energy in its transmission?
-- Thank you,
I once went on a tour of a natural gas pumping station. The gas pressure in the pipeline varied during the year, between 500 PSI and
2000 PSI. I was told the pumping station, which used a big natural gas fired engine to run compressors to do the pumping, used 11% of the gas it pumped. So much for cheap transmission costs.
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