Electric heating now cheaper than Gas

We had an electric hot water heater and when I replaced it with gas my bill was $5 less month, the idea of heating only the rooms you use is great, how long does it take to heat an un-heated room, or do you leave the rooms you use heat heated 24-7?

Tom F

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It takes 15-30 mins to warm up an unheated room. We only heat the room as long as we are using it. We heat the family room kitchen area in the day and evening then turn on the bedroom heat 1/2 hour before bedtime and off when we get up. It is amazing how much can be saved. To be effective, you need to close off the areas being heated and make sure all the thermostats are turned off, especially in the kids rooms. I installed a door between the kitchen and living room to separate the areas. My wife complains that she has to sprint down the cold hallway to the bedroom.

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How do you keep your pipes from freezing?

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considering

Many people heat with wood or coal. It is amazing how much heat a small cast iron stove can generate. $300 a year sounds very reasonable to heat a home. Take a IR picture of your home to deterrmine where to insulate.

What's a "GJ"? Don't think gas is measure that way in the US. (My bill shows the meter reads in cubic feet, and then they convert to THERMS as the costing unit...)

So, where does one find an IR camera???

You are lucky with cheap elec most US is .10 -.14 kwh . GJ ?? Infrared cameras are very expensive you would hire someone that does energy consultation. And it wont be cheap for a photo, but its worth it.

The metric standard for energy content is joules (J). One joule is equal to the heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram (g) of water by one degree Celsius (ºC). a.. One gigajoule (GJ) equals one billion joules. b.. One GJ of natural gas is equal to 27 litres of fuel oil, 39 litres of propane, 26 litres of gasoline or 277 kilowatt hours of electricity. c.. A GJ = 948,200 btu's d.. A therm = 100,000 btu's

rpeazsvaax5egiwg7xxeej2msn2cx6tjdrrgeez6r5szawsm5oh/LowerMainlandFuelCosts.p

No, that's a calorie. A joule is the energy it takes to push one kilogram through one metre at a constant acceleration of one metre per second squared, i.e., 1 J = 1 kg·m²/s². 1 cal = 4.19 J.

Non-SI units (such as the various versions of calorie) do not have complicated definitions anymore. They are now merely defined as multiples of the equivalent SI unit:

Yes. The official definitions of SI units can be found at the SI website:

Bottom line , for most of U.S. Elec is double the cost per BTU of NG

Yeah, but electric is 100% efficient. Cost is the same if Gas appliance is

But in Canada it's the other way around?

Where was the original poster from again?

And can someone just post the formula to convert from GJ to therms and vice versa.

Sheesh.

Actually, the 'norm' is closer to 80% (and you'd be surprised at how many furnaces are running at 50% without their owners' knowledge). There are many reasons to NOT install a high efficiency furnace. Purchase price can easily be double the price of a traditional furnace. Maintenance costs are also typically higher. High efficiency ALWAYS costs more in the short term. Depending on your climate, it can cost more over the long term as well. If the payback period is greater than the expected life of the furnace, then you're better off with a lower efficiency model.

My quote for 94% was 25% more. Norm of 80% only because its the minimum and cheapest sold. In the midwest it gets to -25 and heat is used for 7.5 months a year. Payback on 94 vs 80% can be 1 year. Here heating costs can break you. Its really where you live. But the Variable speed motors can reduce elec cost by 50 % , a cost people forget about. And increase SEER by 1 and dehumidify better , So there are cooling season benefits as well. Maintenance yes , 10 yr warrantys are mandatory. But I calculated elec savings vith a variable speed , mine will be 150 a year. Over the short and long haul its worth it for me. Electric savings summer and winter are what people overlook.

The motor heats at 100% efficiency as an electrical furnace, so you can't save on heating costs with any motor, except as electric heating is more expensive than gas. All the energy it consumes turns into heat, even the noise; but at the electrical heating price.

BS Ron.. DC variable speed have more efficent ranges , No motor is