Generally speaking, the spread between natural gas and electricity has
narrowed in recent years and there have been times when their
respective price positions have reversed, at least temporarily.

This time last year, Heritage Gas (our local distributor) was charging
residential customers $20.413 per GJ. One GJ is equal to 277.8 kWh,
so the cost per kWh(e) works out to be $0.073. Assuming 80 per cent
burner efficiency, the price jumps up to $0.092.

A typical new, energy-efficient home here in Nova Scotia might require
50 GJ of heat/year. At $20.413 per GJ and assuming an 80 per cent
conversion efficiency, natural gas heat would cost our homeowner
$1,275.81. At NSP's then rate of $0.922 per kWh, electric baseboard
heat comes to $1,280.66, so the difference in cost is less than $5.00.
If you factor in the volume of air that would have been exhausted out
of the house over the course of the heating season (air that, in many
cases, would have been previously heated), both while the gas furnace
was operating, as well as what would have leaked out the damper as it
sat idle, electric pulls ahead. And if individual room controls
allowed the homeowner to turn down the heat in various parts of his
home, the net result is that electric heat is the clear winner.

Today, the price of these fuels has reverted back to their more
historical positions. Natural gas heat has fallen to a little over
$800.00/year and with NSP's latest rate increase, electric baseboard
heat has climbed to just over $1,400.00. The gap, in this case, of
just $5.00 has now grown to $600.00, all in the space of one year.

So it seems homeowners never really know from one year to the next
what they'll pay to stay comfortable in their homes. For many of us,
the uncertainty (perhaps anxiety is a better word) is just not worth
it.

Which brings me to the point I keep hammering again and again. A high
efficiency heat pump could heat this same home for as little as
$450.00 a year; at current rates, that's a $950.00 savings over
electric baseboard heat and a $350.00 savings over natural gas.

Cheers,
Paul