Tony Sivori writes:

I plan to buy a house in the next 12 months. I'm looking for a modest
three bedroom brick ranch.

Most of the homes around here (Louisville KY) have natural gas heat. In
recent years, at least locally, natural gas has become much more expensive
than electric heat.

First, are you sure about that? Electric is shown in these 2005
numbers over 2x as expensive as even a lame 80% efficient gas furnace.
Numbers based on 6.2cents/kW-h and $0.7414 per therm of natural gas
with 750 therms usage with an traditional 80% furnace. What are you
paying for gas and electric in your area?
http://www.mudomaha.com/naturalgas/p...s.electric.pdf

Last winter, I paid what appears to be $1.28/therm (total) for gas,
and $0.12/kW-h for electricity in the Chicago area.

You may want to look instead at wood pellet stoves, geothermal
systems, and heat pumps vs pure electric furnaces. Gievn that you're
not THAT cold in the winter in Louisville, heat pump may be a good
alternative for you. The things to keep in mind though is that if
natural gas prices fall back down, your calculations will be
differnt. You may be better off in the future with a 96% efficient
gas furnace, for instance.

The switch however should be relative straightforward. It's just the
furnace you need to swap out. You will probably need an additional
220 line run from your breaker box, or perhaps an upgraded breaker box
installed.

--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/