Thinking ahead & fuel prices

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)_11

Fujitsu has models that are rated at 21-SEER and 11-HSPF, which will be much less expensive to operate than the resistance heaters.

If you have central A/C, then you may want to consider installing a heat pump. Several are on the market that hit 19-SEER and 9.5-HSPF.

Inverter driven central-system heat pumps are being tested by every major US manufacturer. Anticipated debut is one to two years from now. "Inverter units are the future of the heat pump industry" direct quote from one of the bigger HVAC mfgrs.

Breakdown: 60K heating, 36K cooling
2250 run hours heating & 800 run hours cooling (numbers rounded up)

oil @ $5.00 gal 84% eff = $4,484.00

Electric resistance heat @ $.16 per kWh = $4,873.00

HP 13-SEER & 8.0-HSPF = $2,079.00 heat & $355.00 cool

HP 19-SEER & 9.5-HSPF = $1,751.00 heating & $242.53 cooling

HP 21-SEER & 11-HSPF = $1,512.00 heating & $220.0 cooling

Rik

Thinking ahead & fuel prices

I know threads pop up every once in a while comparing heating costs among various fuels, usually oil, propane, and natural gas. Usually it confirms for me that it makes sense to stick with oil heat since propane is my only other option, and to make things competitive the propane would need to reach much higher efficiency - better to stick with my oil steam heat than head down that road at least for now. But I digress...

Just thinking about this year, which is fresh on my mind now that I've locked in a cap price plan at $5.00 per gallon (!) - here's hoping the oil market settles down a bit this winter. In case it doesn't, I was just thinking how far off is the price for plain old electric resistance heating?

If my numbers are correct... at $0.16 per kwh (the highest overall price I've had), and 3413 BTU per kwh... one million BTU's of electric resistance costs $46.88.

For oil, at $5.00 per gallon and 138,700 BTU/gal... one million BTU's of oil costs $36.05.
If I get 80% efficiency out of my steam system, that's $45.06. At 70%, it would be $51.50. (Don't know what I'm really getting overall efficiency wise unfortunately, especially in shoulder season.)

Anyways, that's looking awfully close, and I'm thinking it might make sense to do part of my heating with electric this year. Maybe shoulder season heating, or to give me more control over where the heat goes than my steam system affords. Turn down the main thermostat and heat specific rooms with electric as needed?

Just wondering if I'm missing something... expecting a big spike in electric price? Other thoughts?