Electric vs Natural Gas furnace (Chicago, Evanston: apartments, condo, house)

[SeriesOfTubes]

Has anyone done the math on whether an electric or natural gas furnace is most cost effective? I live in a 1500SF multiunit condo bldg and deciding whether to replace my current gas furnace with another gas furnace or electric. We don't know what our winter heating bill will be like since we only moved in a couple months ago. The place has been quite warm thus far. Even today when it's been in the 50s we had our windows open and it was in the 70s indoors, so there is some indication that the unit will be relatively warm.

[dtcbnd03]

Gas is way more efficient and natural gas prices are dirt cheap and will be for a long time. Waaaay cheaper than electric.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by dtcbnd03

Gas is way more efficient and natural gas prices are dirt cheap and will be for a long time. Waaaay cheaper than electric.

Actually electric is more efficient, almost 100%. Gas you'd be lucky to get 94%. The difference is the cost of natural gas is much lower. After all, most electricity is generated with natural gas.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Actually electric is more efficient, almost 100%. Gas you'd be lucky to get 94%. The difference is the cost of natural gas is much lower. After all, most electricity is generated with natural gas.

And much of the time, way lower than that - I think the furnace I had installed last year was only 80 or 85% efficient, it costs a lot more to wring out that last ten percent of efficiency (outside air for combustion, larger heat exchangers, etc.).

That being said, to do a really fair analysis, the OP would have to include their current utility rates, maybe they live somewhere (like north-central WA) where electricity is cheap, and natural gas may not be available, so they'd be looking at using LP or even (heaven forbid!) oil, like they do on the east coast.

But yeah, in most areas, I'd say it is cheaper to heat with utility gas than electric ("efficiency" is a pretty relative term). I proved this to myself last year, when my furnace went on the fritz, and I heated the house (in March or April in Chicago, mind you) with some electric heaters - the additional electric cost was quite a bit higher than my expected gas bill, and the house wasn't nearly as comfortable, since I only kept the heaters in the rooms I use the most. Com Ed provides a tracking service on its billing, and my electric use for that month was WAY higher than the previous year. Thus ended THAT particular experiment, at least for me.

That's why I'm very skeptical of there being an economical solution to "global warming", unless we all move to Texas and Arizona - it takes less energy to cool a southern home in the summer than it does to heat a northern home in the winter, because the outside ambient is much closer to the desired inside temperature. Why there aren't more earth-sheltered homes built in the southwest is beyond me, the annual energy required to climatize is so much less, and humidity / rainfall is not nearly as much of a problem as it is in the east. George Lucas knew what he was doing when he designed the buildings on Tatooine in Star Wars.

Edit: If the OP is thinking of building a home and wants to compare gas vs. electric, they need to consult an architect or engineer - because you have to consider not having to install a chimney, ductwork, or buy a furnace in the electric house (although central A/C may require its own ductwork, depending on location). But if you're building new, you need to be thinking about spending more on insulation, better windows, a cooler roof, etc., better to buy efficiency now than energy later in most cases.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Sorry that I didn't thoroughly read the OP's initial post more closely and went off-topic - they clearly defined their parameters (1500 sf condo that tends to stay warm due to common walls with neighbors). I understand now why weighing electric vs. a new furnace in this circumstance is an attractive thought-exercise.

The result is the same: that you can buy more btu's of heat with gas than you can with electric with the same number of dollars in most places, but since their heating requirements are less, the break-even of buying a new furnace will take more time to realize. One thing to consider is their condo rules may require them to maintain a functioning HVAC system of the same specs as the original, I don't know. Another is that their unit may not be set up for electric heat (not a large enough electric panel to handle the additional load of heaters). It sure would make for an interesting experiment, to buy some inexpensive, 115V electric heaters and see how many KWH's (and dollars) it takes to keep their unit warm with electric as they approach winter. My guess is they would end up replacing the furnace before January, LOL. Since this was posted in the Chicago forum, their unit costs will be roughly the same as my own, with the exception being that my 1960's, 1400 sf unattached house (plus basement) requires a lot more heat energy to stay comfortable vs. their condo.

I'd bet that sweatshirts and Huggies are cheaper than paying the Big Bucks to Nicor and ComEd, how Spartan are you willing to go this winter? The Winnebago Indians that used to inhabit this area only had fallen tree branches to burn for heat, and they were here for a lot longer than "we" have been. But the next family that buys your condo is going to want to have a working furnace, I'd bet on it.

[Hiruko]

Electricity prices are highly variable depending upon where you live. I've found that electricity prices in Evanston, which has Community Choice Aggregation, is extremely inexpensive relative to surrounding communities including the City of Chicago.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Electricity prices are highly variable depending upon where you live. I've found that electricity prices in Evanston, which has Community Choice Aggregation, is extremely inexpensive relative to surrounding communities including the City of Chicago.

Really! I never knew that, I thought that since most of our juice comes from the local nuke plants, we all paid about the same. Do you know if the differences are mainly on the supply side, or do they vary on the delivery side as well? Time for a Google, I guess. Thanks for heads-up on that.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by Curly Q. Bobalink

Really! I never knew that, I thought that since most of our juice comes from the local nuke plants, we all paid about the same. Do you know if the differences are mainly on the supply side, or do they vary on the delivery side as well? Time for a Google, I guess. Thanks for heads-up on that.

My 3,900 sqft Evanston property averages about $80/month for electricity which is less than most of my friends pay for 800 sqft vintage apartments in Chicago. My Lake Forest home is significantly more.

[MSchemist80]

I pay about $50 for electricity ComEd and 45 for gas Nicor. Half of that is delivery and taxes so not much room for savings. I haven't bothered looking at the different retail electric providers given the above plus many are very shady

[ConawayDouglas]

If I were the OP, I'd go for electric. Oil is a nonrenewable resource, but our electric grid can be powered by different sources over time. Save the oil for the sake of saving it for others