electric heat?

a friend owns a *big* 10K+ bookstore. he's got five forced-air York NG furnaces installed in-tandem... all of this is 5-7 years old... he's been through small-claims, and in the past 2-3 yrs has paid 500-700 in repairs. they're outa warrantee... he plans on ripping them all out and replacing them... AC is part of all this.

my suggestion is that with NG being $1.90/therm, he'd be better off installing electric 220V heaters at $.06/KWH ... only 1 floor needs winter heat, rather than reinstalling 80% efficient NG furnaces...

all i know for sure is in our 2000 sqft home, my electric bill is 75% less than NG...

any suggestions?

thanks...

Reply to
AND Books
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Where do you live to pay those prices? Here in CT, it is .169 kW/hr

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

some of the factors can be converted with free convert program:

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who: residential versus commercial customer where: specific local climate what: rate comparison but also equipment life and service. when: seasonal demands can be extreme why: conserve energy/money how: hire an architect after exploring architecture design. don't forget customer counts and store windows are big factors besides sunshine and insulation. and see:
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Reply to
buffalobill

: Where do you live to pay those prices? Here in CT, it is .169 kW/hr

sorry, it's here in northern indiana... kkold place, NIPSCO gas sells @ $1.00-1.15/therm, + $.50/therm delivery + 6% sales tax..., while, A&E sells electric at $.06-.07/ KWH... that's why i haven't use NG at home for 2-3 years, did kerosene @ 1.70/gal last year, but today at $3/gallon, i've shifted completely to electric.... at $.168/KWH i think i'd be doing kerosene... but still, *not* NG at $1.90/therm

reminds me of the Beverly Hillbillies, to burn their mahogany clock and furniture in the fireplace to keep warm... or, goto Day's Inn at $39.00/day to save on water @ .01/gal, taxes @ $4/day, insurance @ $5/day (incl cars), taxes @ $2/day, and so on... being squeezed to $2/therm makes it *very* difficult...

sorry for the length, but i can go on forever....

js

Reply to
AND Books

AND Books wrote: ...

That does not mean it is cheaper to heat with electric unless you are heating 50% with electric and 50% gas and not using either for anything else.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

andbooks, I have Nipsco Ng-electric, how do I get A&E , Nipsco charges apx .12Kwh. I would love .06kwh , Gee I could sell it to my neighbors for .09 Kwh

Reply to
m Ransley

:sorry, it's here in northern indiana... kkold place, NIPSCO gas sells @ $1.00-1.15/therm, + $.50/therm delivery + 6% sales tax..., while, A&E sells electric at $.06-.07/ KWH... that's why i haven't use NG

Be glad NIPSCO, we have Indy Vectren:

Gas $1.39, Vectren claims pressure adjustment +15%, +$42 - service and meter fee. Now if you account for 80% furnace 2.20 - 2.30 term

I'll be taking out some of NG (replace waterheater, add heat pump)

Reply to
Brian

Rather than guessing call a licensed pro and have him work it up both ways.

Residential electric rates are typically lower than commercial rates. Does this store have a demand meter/rate? That could push the heating fuel back to NG.

Call the local utilities and see if there are any rebates for installed equipment currently.

Insulation is the best bang for you buck when it comes to utilities.

Reply to
SQLit

At .06/KWH ...+ no more than 3/4 cent of add-on fees I believe that electric will be cheaper. I am not sure exactly what a therm is I looked it up about a month ago and forgot.

NG is about $14.60 MCF here before the garbage fees and electric is definitely a better buy since an all electric home pays .047 per KWH before the garbage fees and the total delivered price per KWH is 0.0540 or less (the bill I used was a small one so the customer fee was a higher % than a normal bill.

You Yankees eat you heart out over that rate.

He may want to check with the utility company because sometimes the residential rate and the commercial rate are different. Commercial rates here can also be billed based on actual usage or a peak demand basis. Peak demand is sometimes cheaper for businesses that use a large and consistent load.

Colbyt

Reply to
Colbyt

I will be stunned if anyone actually finds electric is cheaper!

The reason is electric is generated by burning oil, gas, nuclear or coal. electric being another step in the process of generating heat adds but another layer of cost.

electric will end up costing more:(

Reply to
hallerb

You would think that, but when you look at the rates, what can I say?

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Sure wish we had them here. I'd save about $80 a month on electric.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

That may be be the price of the electricity but it sounds like you forgot to include the distribution charges/taxes etc.

Reply to
George

The cost for Gas water heating is horrible and tank recovery that is gallons per hour for electric are about half as much as gas, gas stoves are commonly accepted as being better than electric and dont have troubles like burners that fry out.

theres lots to consider when thinking of converting to electric heat. with heat pumps they arent too bad at 50 degrees, but below 30 they become resistant heat only and bills skyrocket

Reply to
hallerb

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Dear Gary, Natural gas prices are going up all the time. At what point does it make sense to replace my gas water heater (40 gallon) with an electric one? I live by myself and my July gas bill was $28. I take 1 quick shower a day, do 2-3 loads of laundry a week, and run 1 dishwasher load per week. I also rarely, if ever, use my gas stove during the summer. The same CCF usage last year cost me $11! This is already bare-bones usage. How astronomical is my heating bill going to be this winter? What can do I to save on natural gas? Barbara Columbus, OH Barbara asks a question that's on many people's minds as we head toward winter. How will rising energy prices affect my budget and what can I do to limit the damage? Let's begin by looking at water heaters and then follow-up with some ideas on reducing energy bills.

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) says that 14% of our home energy usage is for heating water. By comparison, 44% is for heating and air conditioning. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute over $15 billion is spent by Americans each year to heat water.

Should Barbara consider switching away from natural gas? Probably not now or ever. Generally it has been cheaper to heat water with gas than with electric. In February, 2005 the Metropolitan Utilities District of Omaha NE estimated that an electric water heater cost 75% more to operate than a gas heater.

But that doesn't mean that Barbara can't reduce the amount of energy she uses to heat water. The Rocky Mountain Institute claims energy saving techniques can reduce the cost of heating water by two thirds. The four biggest savers are using efficient showerheads, washing clothes in cold water, insulating the water heater and lowering the water heater thermostat to 120F. Combining those would reduce a bill by

1/3.

Two of the techniques don't require Barbara to spend any money. The other two are inexpensive. Installing low-flow showerheads is a do-it-yourself type project. Barbara can put a blanket of R-12 insulation around the water heater herself. She should check the manufacturer, since some recommend against extra insulation.

Although a little more expensive, Barbara might also want to check out the cost of installing a timer on her water heater.

Ok, what about her winter heating bills? Should she consider replacing a gas furnace? Again, probably not.

What makes comparing furnaces hard is getting an apples to apples measurement. DOE estimates that 1 kWh of electricity is worth 3.3 cubic feet of natural gas in terms of generating heat. A common method of comparison translates everything into how much energy is needed to produce a BTU. But even that still just measures heat generation. It doesn't take into account how efficient the heat delivery system is.

We won't get into the formula details. If you're seriously shopping for a new furnace or water heater you'll need to get estimates based specifically on your own home and lifestyle. That will be better than generic estimate anyway.

Even after the current increase in prices, gas is still cheaper than electric for generating heat. And, electric prices will probably rise, too. About 20% of electricity in the U.S. is generated from natural gas and petroleum. So an increase in those prices will tend to raise electric costs, too.

That doesn't mean that Barbara is helpless. The DOE suggests an energy audit as a good way to find out where you're using energy. Often your local power provider will do an audit free of charge. Or you can do a simple audit yourself. An internet search will uncover instructions.

In most cases, the best thing a homeowner can do is to make sure that they're not wasting energy. The DOE says that if you total up all the leaks around windows and doors it's the same as leaving a window wide open. Weather-stripping is an easy, inexpensive way to eliminate those leaks. A $3 tube of caulking could save you quite a bit.

The other key to winter heating, especially when there's only one person at home, is to only heat the areas where you are. You don't need to heat the entire home.

Yes, a central furnace will be more efficient than a space heater. But, only if they're heating the same sized area. In most cases the space heater only has to heat one room, while the furnace will heat the entire residence. So even if the space heater is less efficient, it will still use less energy than running your furnace.

Winter energy bills will always be a challenge. Especially when prices rise and you live in a cold climate. Fortunately there are things that consumers can do to reduce their bills short of replacing water heaters and furnaces.

Gary Foreman is a former purchasing manager who currently edits The Dollar Stretcher website and newsletters. If you'd like your day and dollar to go further visit today. You'll find hundreds of articles to save you time and money.

Reply to
hallerb

I live in Indy with an all electric home - IPL has a special rate for all electric houses - my average cost/kWh was 4.9 cents (delivered, with all metering fees, taxes, whatever - thats the bottom line cost on the bill that I write a check for) for 2005. Outside of NW IN, Indiana rates are pretty low.

stk

Reply to
Steven T King

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