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Mike Hartigan

In article , kjpro @
usenet.com says...

"Mike Hartigan" wrote in message
.net...
In article ,
says...
Mike Hartigan wrote:

Actually, the illumination is, indeed, free. 500 watts of energy
consumed results in 500 watts of heat, regardless of what else the
energy is doing. If you have a refrigerator that consumes 500 watts
of electricity and it runs continuously, it's producing exactly the
same amount of heat as five 100 watt light bulbs. And it chills your
beer for free. In fact, if you heat your home with electricity, it
doesn't cost a dime to run all your appliances and keep all your
lights on all day and all night long (assuming, of course, that you
do it during the heating season and you're not overheating your
house).

snip

I'm surprised the marketeers have never tried that argument as an
advantage of electric heat over gas or other alternatives. :-)

The problem is that electricity costs so much more per unit of energy
than the alternatives that it can't be sold as an economic
alternative. Electric heat is 100% efficient. It simply costs more.

It doesn't cost more in all areas of the world.

True. I'm speaking in conventional terms in the US. Obviously,
YMMV.

In FACT, a natural gas fired, forced air furnace cost more to run than
straight electric heat last year.

Depends on where you live in the country. While my figgerin' could
be wrong, at around $0.08/kwh, (Chicago area), I calculated that
natural gas would need to be in the ballpark of $2 per therm in order
for electricity to be competitive.

Now just think of the savings they could have had with a heat pump!