Electric furnace vs gas furnace

[scottman1027]

Hello. Just wondering what everyones opinion is on gas and electric furnaces. We have only had gas furnaces in the past so I am pretty inexperienced on electric furnaces. I know the gas come in handy when we had the ice storm in 2002, we were without power for five days. Still I had to buy a generator and wire the blower direct.

I am now considering going electric with a standby generator. With the price of natural gas getting higher and higher, I am thinking electric may be the way to go. I would like to hear any opinions or comments one way or the other. Thanks in advance!

 

[travelover]

When you say electric, do you mean a heat pump or resistance heater?

You might want to determine how many watts an electric furnace would draw and see how big of a generator you'd need to run it. It could be costly.

Also it would be wise to determine the relative cost of electric vs gas heat. I know in the past, gas has been cheaper by a wide margin.

 

[scottman1027]

I guess it would be the heat pump system, but I am pretty ignorant when it comes to any electric furnace.

Good advise on determining the draw an electric furnace would have on the standby generator, I will have to do some research on that. Maybe someone here has an idea of how many watts an electric furnace would draw.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[travelover]

Check this site out, too. You'll need to get current rares for the calculation.


http://www.clevelandutilities.com/electric_vs_gas.html

 

[rjarrett001]

I have had both gas and a heat pump. Stick with the gas. You can maintain a comfort level and can heat your home much faster. If your winters are cold, you will regret the heat pump.

 

[scottman1027]

I have had both gas and a heat pump. Stick with the gas. You can maintain a comfort level and can heat your home much faster. If your winters are cold, you will regret the heat pump.

Thanks for the replies and the opinions. Like I said I am a complete novice when it comes to heat pumps and such, so all ideas are welcome.

I had heard before that heat pumps are not very warm. Dont some of them have a gas backup?

Thanks again.

 

[triple D]

Thats the only thing to wonder about. I would say if you frequently see 25 f. or lower through the winter it may not be right for you. If you stay above in the majority, the heat pump with nat. gas backup is just what you need. By the way if your home is 2800 sq ft or less, and has one system, a 15-16kw standby gen will take care of you. They start at around 3000 on e-bay direct from fact. w/warranty delivered to door. They run on nat. gas. Generac is a darn good brand and I have installed quite a few. Good luck! P.S. an electric backup in furnace is commonly 60 amps, and boy will your meter spin!!