Help!!!

toddj1 · 11-19-2009, 02:53 PM

have a 1000 sq ft slab house i bought cheap to fix up and rent or sell have it gutted no interior walls right now. need to decide which way to go with the heating system, dont really need air conditioning as we can see Lake Superior from the house and that keeps us cool in the summer, but it gets very cold here in the winter. am thinking about some kind of radiant ceramic electric heating, our average cost per KW right now is 6 to 7 cents, most people here go with naturaul gas, but i think for this house it may be better to go with something simpiler and hopefully less expensive, so long story short, i need some help and feedback on this.

Nestor_Kelebay · 11-19-2009, 10:26 PM

Electric heat is simple, quiet and reliable, but most people have shyed away from electric heat because of it's relatively high cost compared to gas fired heating systems.

However, the cost of natural gas has risen very much over the past few years, and may continue to do so. I'm not sure that gas fired heating equipment is appreciably cheaper to operate than electric heating anymore.

Your first step would be to find out how much a BTU of electric heat has cost over the past few years and a BTU of natural gas heat as well. See if the graphs of the cost look like they might cross in the not-to-distant future.