All Electric May Be Allright for Some

mommy22 · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 270

Now, I know this is probably going to irk some of you, but I wanted to share this with someone. For those of you who probably aren't going to get a 100 acres of farm land, and may just be renting or considering purchasing a home, please, consider the following: I called our local electric utility company the other day to find out if our household would possibly benefit from a load monitor....a device which tracks usage times and can give some families a break on their electric bill. Well, it turns out that our house, becaues it is all electric, and the heat is from a heat pump, apparently we have the lowest price per kilowat hour available. The CSR I was talking to said that he is moving from his apt as soon as he can find an all-electric flat because of this. Electric rates are locked in by our state, apparently, (Ohio), and are not subject to the whims of the energy markets as gas and oil are.
So, if you are in the market, and don't mind staying on the grid, think about getting an all-electric place, and your energy bills may not be so high as someone dependant on gas or oil.

rogerhb

Texas_T · Tar Sands Joined: May 22, 2005 Posts: 39

gg3

Depends on where your electricity comes from.
Oil or natural gas: not good, for the obvious reasons.

Coal: slightly better for supply & cost reasons, but worse in terms of what will happen to coal fired plants as we start to take global climate change seriously.
Nuclear, wind, hydro, solar, geothermal, etc. etc.: Excellent. If you live near any of these, you're in good shape, go all-electric and practice the usual sensible conservation measures to be sure.

Most power companies will provide customers with information on the percentage mix of various energy sources they are using. Call your local utility and ask, or search around their web site.

mommy22 · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 270

I believe that the rep I spoke with said that our energy comes from about 70% nuclear/ 30% coal, with tiny contribution by wind,solar,etc..
I guess in Ohio we're OK. I was also thinking that, at least for the time being, someone could conceivably save money this year and perhaps the next few years on the upcoming home heating fiasco...like it or not, in some areas, electric is the way to go...at least for the moment. Also, for those of us who don't have our own acreage to cut down trees for firewood, THAT is becoming quite expensive as well! We just split a cord and 1/2 of wood with friends, and the price was lots higher than a few years ago. We'll be using that as backup heat source, and of course, continue conserving as usual, to get through the winter.