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Why does it have to be electric heat? Natural Gas is doing a good job right now. Let's work on supplying electricity, for things that require electricity first.
by overcast 8y ago
Why does it have to be electric heat? Natural Gas is doing a good job right now. Let's work on supplying electricity, for things that require electricity first. When we've moved away non renewable energy sources for electricity generation, then move onto the heating issues in colder climates.
- rb808 8y agoYes Gas is great, but in 100 years it wont be cheap. I wasn't really talking about the next decade.
- overcast 8y agoIn a 100 years, at this rate there might not be any cold climates.
- wtetzner 8y agoBut even with natural gas, don't you end up needing electricity to move the heat through the house?
- organsnyder 8y agoDepends on the delivery mechanism. Our boiler (hot-water heat with radiators) has a pump that uses ~30 watts, and before we modernized our system it was entirely gravity-fed—hot water goes up to the living quarters, cold water comes back down to the basement. I haven't checked exactly, but I think our system uses around 100 watts total, and extracts 95% of the possible BTUs from the natural gas it consumes. The old system consumed basically nothing (just a bit to operate the thermostat controls), but was 80% efficient at best. Not surprisingly, forced air blowers consume more electricity—100-500 watts, according to my quick Googling.
- rsynnott 8y agoVery little, generally. The pumps on a water-based radiator system are typically tiny.