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Natural gas isn't that cheap everywhere. Texas is a big producer of natural gas so it's probably extra cheap there. Where I live electricity has been getting c

Natural gas isn't that cheap everywhere. Texas is a big producer of natural gas so it's probably extra cheap there. Where I live electricity has been getting cheaper faster than natural gas, so at some point it makes more sense to do a heat pump. Plus if natural gas is cheap it can also be used to generate electricity without having to run and maintain natural gas lines to every house as well as electrical lines.

ed25519FUUU 4y ago
Where in the country is electricity actually getting cheaper? Everywhere I’ve lived along the west coast electricity prices have only gone up.
- heyoni 4y ago
  The east coast? Electricity is super cheap here
  - nerdponx 4y ago
    Not in Massachusetts. National Grid has basically doubled since last year. However a lot of towns have some kind of municipal service for a much lower price.
  - thebiss 4y ago
    Residential electricity in New England is currently twice the national average. See: https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices_selectedareas_table.htm https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices... It's recently become so high, I wonder if it's more economical to run hybrid cars on gas instead of charging them.
- dd36 4y ago
  Anywhere with solar.
  - ed25519FUUU 4y ago
    If you had PG&E in California you know this is specifically untrue. Tons of solar, soaring power cost inflation for everyone.
    - dd36 4y ago
      I installed solar on my house and my prices are essentially fixed.
hunter2_ 4y ago
It's interesting math. You can turn natural gas into heat directly at around 90% if it's plumbed to the building. You can turn natural gas into electricity at around 50%. You can turn electricity into heat (resistive) at 100%. You can pump ambient heat inside using electricity at 300% (depending on several factors; adjust as appropriate). Therefore the choice is between a gas furnace at 90%, or gas to electricity to a heat pump at 150%, if we care about the efficiency of gas usage between the two options. But when comparing price per kWh of delivered gas vs electricity, ignore the 50% gas-to-electricity efficiency, because that's irrelevant. It's just the 90% vs 300%. Therefore a gas furnace is cheaper if the delivered price per kWh of gas happens to be no more than 30% that of electricity in your area. Of course the rate for gas will more likely be in therms than kWh, but that's a simple conversion (1 therm = 29.3 kWh). I suppose that's the case in Texas?
- dd36 4y ago
  Gas leaks from distribution are something to consider too.
- elcomet 4y ago
  In your first two paragraphs, you seem to be assuming that the only way to produce electricity is gas.. which is fortunately not the case
  - hunter2_ 4y ago
    I should've quoted to avoid confusion, but I am replying to a comment talking about heating with gas vs this: > if natural gas is cheap it can also be used to generate electricity without having to run and maintain natural gas lines to every house

ed25519FUUU 4y ago

Where in the country is electricity actually getting cheaper? Everywhere I’ve lived along the west coast electricity prices have only gone up.

heyoni 4y ago
The east coast? Electricity is super cheap here
- nerdponx 4y ago
  Not in Massachusetts. National Grid has basically doubled since last year. However a lot of towns have some kind of municipal service for a much lower price.
- thebiss 4y ago
  Residential electricity in New England is currently twice the national average. See: https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices_selectedareas_table.htm https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/data/averageenergyprices... It's recently become so high, I wonder if it's more economical to run hybrid cars on gas instead of charging them.
dd36 4y ago
Anywhere with solar.
- ed25519FUUU 4y ago
  If you had PG&E in California you know this is specifically untrue. Tons of solar, soaring power cost inflation for everyone.
  - dd36 4y ago
    I installed solar on my house and my prices are essentially fixed.

hunter2_ 4y ago

It's interesting math. You can turn natural gas into heat directly at around 90% if it's plumbed to the building. You can turn natural gas into electricity at around 50%. You can turn electricity into heat (resistive) at 100%. You can pump ambient heat inside using electricity at 300% (depending on several factors; adjust as appropriate). Therefore the choice is between a gas furnace at 90%, or gas to electricity to a heat pump at 150%, if we care about the efficiency of gas usage between the two options. But when comparing price per kWh of delivered gas vs electricity, ignore the 50% gas-to-electricity efficiency, because that's irrelevant. It's just the 90% vs 300%. Therefore a gas furnace is cheaper if the delivered price per kWh of gas happens to be no more than 30% that of electricity in your area. Of course the rate for gas will more likely be in therms than kWh, but that's a simple conversion (1 therm = 29.3 kWh). I suppose that's the case in Texas?

dd36 4y ago
Gas leaks from distribution are something to consider too.
elcomet 4y ago
In your first two paragraphs, you seem to be assuming that the only way to produce electricity is gas.. which is fortunately not the case
- hunter2_ 4y ago
  I should've quoted to avoid confusion, but I am replying to a comment talking about heating with gas vs this: > if natural gas is cheap it can also be used to generate electricity without having to run and maintain natural gas lines to every house