Whats the difference between having all electric vs all gas appliances? cost wise?
Monday, November 30th, 2009 at
5:09 am
I’m looking at Condos right now one has a gas furnace and water tank, while the other 2 have an electric(forced air) furnace and an electric water heater.
Which is more expensive to run in terms of energy bills? Do Electric Furnaces last longer then gas? Are they cheaper to replace? Does an electric furnace use a heating element or what?(vs a gas using a flame)
The one I’m looking at still has an electric furnace from the mid 70′s. Should i be worried?
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I thought this comparison chart was interesting.
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/gas.html
Electric does not have furnaces the are electric base board strip units in each room. with there own thermostat. Electric is far more expensive than gas heating weather it by hot water or air heat.
Forced air electric is VERY expensive.
I recently switched it out for that reason.
When they say it’s electric it could be that it’s a heat pump.
Heat pumps are operated by electricity but do not heat using a heating element except for auxiliary heat.
They are 2 – 3 times cheaper to operate than straight electric resistance heating furnaces. Find out what they have.
regardless of the heat source ,a BTU of heat will cost you about the same.gas may look cheaper but if you have to use more of it you lose the savings.electric is cleaner and has the lowest maintenance cost ,you need not worry about carbon monoxide ,or flues ,but it might be lost in really cold weather ,ice storms pull down power lines, but here again your gas is controlled by electricity so you might still get cold. you might try a combination gas/electric system ,a heat pump is more efficient than resistance heat ,but loses that efficiency at temps below freezing then your gas comes on and takes up the slack.