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No you’re not exaggerating. I have both a high efficiency electric heat pump and a high efficiency natural gas furnace. Not only is the gas furnace significantl
by throwawaysea 5y ago
No you’re not exaggerating. I have both a high efficiency electric heat pump and a high efficiency natural gas furnace. Not only is the gas furnace significantly cheaper to operate, which surprised me given my heat pump is newer and among the most efficient available, but my gas furnace is also far more effective when the temperature is low (approaching freezing and below). The heat pump takes a lot longer to adjust temperatures and it feels like it struggles to keep up. The one complaint I have about my gas furnace is that it needs electricity to operate (ignition and blower fan) but that could theoretically be handled with a backup generator. There are alternatives that are fully independent of electricity though.
I’m also definitely wary of dependence on the grid and the sweeping rush to legislate every daily activity (cooking, driving, heating, etc) into that dependence. Over a decade back we had a bad storm that knocked out power for over 10 days. Luckily our natural gas and water service worked just fine, which kept us from freezing or starving. Ban based governance leaves a bad taste in my mouth.