General Opinions on Winter Heat -- Gas vs. Electric

 Subsequent to my last outrageous gas bill, I recently purchased three
radiant heaters to help warm my home.  They're small, 1500 Watt, 7 panel oil
filled (w/permanent seal) space heaters and are triangulated on one side of
the main floor of my home.  I put them in place to help maintain the heat
within the house and lessen the flow of gas utilized.  And, we've noticed
that the furnace is not kicking on nearly as much.  I've heard that Gas
heating in my area (Atlanta) is 30% more expensive than electric heat...but,
I'm not sure how that translates in reality to the bills.  The house is
insulated pretty well, but the windows are not gas charged.

Question/Opinions pelase...I haven't seen the next round of bills yet.
While I'm sure the gas bill will be lower than expected and the electric
will increase, is this a correct measure for winter economy?  Should I
expect the $$ increase in electric to be less than the $$ decrease in Gas?
Did I do the right thing?

Goodoz

 

IF the electric cost is more than the saving on gas. You blew it.

If the electric is less than the saving on gas. You win.

Fit the electric is the same as the saving on the gas. You are out the
cost of the electric heaters.

What outcome will you be happy with?

 George Ghio wrote:


The way I see it, the utility companies win either way. I Have a suspicion
that pretty soon they will all be selling the energy content of whatever it
is they are selling you. That will make it impossible to get a 'better deal'
by switching.

As far heating goes, it's easy enough to calculate a Calorie/BTU equivalence
between electricity and gas. Coal may remain cheaper, but it's still a dirty
business.




mike

 
That would be fine, if the _supply_ was a constant.
As near as I know, you can't get natural gas from a windmill or a dammed
river.  And you can't get electricity by drilling a hole in the ground,
nor can it be shipped by tanker from an exporting country.

So, BTUs from one utility will always cost more or less to deliver than
another's.  In a market where consumption levels off, the only way to
make more money is at the expense of your competitor.  Of course, once
you drive them out of business, you can profiteer for a while, until you
become the next guy's target.

--Gene

 One therm = 100,000 BTU = 29.3 kWH.

That way anyone could compare electric cost with gas cost without
making expensive experiments, by simply call the gas company and
electric company. I would be surprised to find cost of electric heat
to be less than cost of gas, due to common sense consideration such as
relatively low efficiency of conversion of thermal energy to
electrical at power plants.

i