Posted on 11/17/2023 6:57:50 AM PST by george76
Natural gas remains the main source of heating in American homes despite the current administration’s electrification push. .
Heating homes this winter using natural gas is estimated to cut down energy costs by more than 40 percent compared to electricity, according to a recent report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Households using electricity to heat homes are projected to pay $1,063 on average between November and March, according to a Nov. 7 winter fuels outlook report by the EIA. In comparison, households using natural gas are only expected to shell out $601.
Region-wise, the biggest difference is in the Midwest, where electric heating is expected to cost $1,213—more than double the gas cost of $581. In the Northeast, gas heating is projected to be cheaper by $704, in the South by $507, and in the West by $417.
Natural gas heating is also cheaper compared to other alternative energy sources such as propane and heating oil, which are expected to cost $1,343 and $1,851 respectively.
High heating costs borne by households using electricity come as the Biden administration is pushing an electrification agenda. The administration is already imposing several restrictions on the use of gas-powered appliances. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced new efficiency standards for residential gas furnaces, pool pumps, battery chargers, dehumidifiers, ceiling fans, incandescent light bulbs, and gas stoves that would severely curtail their use...
Secondly, the Biden administration is offering rebates on the use of electric appliances in homes. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act set aside $8.8 billion in rebates for home energy efficiency and electrification projects.
In a June 2 interview with The Epoch Times, O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers, said the Biden administration’s push for electrification of home appliances is bad news for Americans.
“That will make it so that nearly the majority of the current products on the market don’t meet the standards and have to be redesigned or removed from the market,” he said.
...
“Everyday things that people actually want are going to get more expensive or disappear, and the products that will be available will be more expensive but not better. People are going to wonder why life is worse.”
At present, there are more homes using natural gas than electricity in the United States when it comes to heating.
“Natural gas is the main space heating fuel in 46 percent of U.S. homes, making it the most widely used residential heating fuel in the country,” the EIA report reads.
“The share of U.S. homes that use electricity as a primary space heating fuel has grown to 42 percent from 38 percent 10 years ago.”
The Biden administration’s electrification push has attracted criticism for its unnecessarily burdening American consumers. In August, Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) raised concerns about the DOE’s energy efficiency standards on ceiling fans, arguing that it's against consumer choice and would result in higher prices.
“We are currently in a period of hot summer weather but also a time of high inflation. It is unconscionable that your department would seek to limit the options of the American people to stay cool in their own homes at a time like this,” she wrote in an Aug. 25 letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
More Than Triple the Cost..
An August report by the DOE revealed that natural gas is a far cheaper energy source than electricity. The cost of electricity was calculated to be $46.19 per million British thermal units (Btu). Natural gas cost only came to $13.97 per million Btu, which is 3.3 times cheaper than electricity.
The Energy Department’s analysis confirms that there's a “very clear and substantial cost-advantage of natural gas,” Karen Harbert, president of the American Gas Association (AGA), said in an Aug. 28 statement.
“Our nation’s domestic abundance of natural gas means American customers pay a fraction of what customers pay for other energy sources here at home and see significant savings compared to energy costs globally,” Ms. Harbert said.
“Our industry invests $91 million every day to ensure our vast modern delivery infrastructure provides the reliability Americans expect. America’s natural gas is critical to American and global energy security.”
The AGA estimates that households using natural gas for heating, drying clothes, and cooking save about $1,068 per annum on average compared to homes that use electricity for such activities. Through 2050, natural gas prices are projected to be half to a third of the price of other fuels.
Since 1970, the typical residential property has cut consumption by half even though homes have become bigger. AGA credits this to “steady improvements in building and appliance energy efficiency, and the positive impacts of gas utility energy efficiency program.”
President Joe Biden has implemented several steps to limit natural gas production ever since he assumed office back in 2021.
This includes a moratorium on oil and natural gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, imposing new taxes on gas extraction through the Inflation Reduction Act, and proposing revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act guidance, which would make it harder to permit natural gas projects.
In September, a bipartisan coalition of 25 governors committed to decarbonizing buildings across the United States.
“Decarbonizing buildings through accelerated energy efficiency and electrification is an imperative ... to reduce emissions and achieve U.S. climate targets,” a Sept. 21 statement by the U.S. Climate Alliance reads.
Speaking to Daily Caller, Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, said that the “political appointees in the White House ... are more interested in helping their big money backers in the green movement than they are in helping provide relief for working-class American families.”
“Higher electricity prices don’t hurt wealthy coastal elites, but they crush the poor, seniors, and those living on fixed incomes,” Mr. Pyle said.
In a March 21 letter to Ms. Granholm, House Republicans insisted that the department’s rules restricting gas appliances “has no basis in law or within your jurisdiction.”
"[The DOE] has enjoyed bipartisan support," it reads. "[But] your actions to appease the Biden Administration’s radical climate agenda does not reflect well upon the Department.”
Heating with wood is 100% cheaper.
KGO runs 50KW (daytime) and 5KW at night.
“Theirs were the FIRST homes to have a/c cut off, during the “historic” heat wave, IIRC.”
They weren’t cut off. They were reset to a higher temperature.
…. Thousands of utility company customers in Colorado were locked out of changing their thermostats due to an “energy emergency,” sparking outrage that spilled onto social media.
Xcel Energy, a utility company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, confirmed that 22,000 customers in the Denver, Colorado area who were signed up for the Colorado AC Rewards program were locked out of their thermostats for several hours on Tuesday, KMGH-TV reported.
Tony Talarico, an Xcel Energy customer in Arvada, Colorado, told KMGH-TV that he attempted to turn up the air conditioning as temperatures creeped into the 90s on Tuesday but was greeted with a message from this thermostat declaring an “energy emergency” and prevented from turning the …
But, you WOULD defend the leftists, AGAIN, “Texas” gator.
🙃
“Locked out = turned off”
No. The thermostats and A/C were not turned off. Both were still operating.
Yup- good point- that and snowbirds likely skews the average downward
Per your link the thermostats were reset to 78. A while back my A/C failed.
We noticed that we were not getting uncomfortable till temperatures starting going above 80.
Here, if outdoor temperature is 78 we consider it to be a cool day.
Of course it is. You hardly need any heat.
But if you did, you should consider having a stored backup energy source for heating. Something more, and cheaper than, an $80,000 92 kilowatt-hour truck. Perhaps a few 20 pound propane tanks.
The apartment I've been in for the past 23 years has natural gas. The furnace is in the walk-in bedroom closet. It is a combo furnace that is connected to a central air unit. My bill last month was $102.00. That includes gas and electric, along with whatever fees and taxes are added.
> What’s bad is the Dims have done their best to make natural gas expensive too
That’s right. Around here it has about doubled.
Sure, G plant.
Whatever you say.
😂😂
“But if you did, you should consider having a stored backup energy source for heating. Something more, and cheaper than, an $80,000 92 kilowatt-hour truck. Perhaps a few 20 pound propane tanks.”
I have a NG stove, NG water heater, NG outdoor connection, a multi-fuel generator, gas grill and three propane tanks and a hot wife!
Be civil.
With you on that— installed a wood stove in Santa Clara CA and the house was generally overheated when it was burning. Always had hot water for tea.
Wood heat was much more comfy as well.
> I have a NG stove, NG water heater, NG outdoor connection, a multi-fuel generator, gas grill and three propane tanks and a hot wife!
Good going. Enjoy!
We had a big wood furnace in the cellar- it woudl get smokin hot sometimes- and we would have to open windows upstairs in the dead of winter just to regulate the heat lol-
And yup- wood heat is comforting- just something about it- would come in from working outdoors on 1-20 below 0 days and stand by the fire for a bit and get warmed to the bones in a hurry- that with a nice warm bowl of soup and a coffee really hit the spot-
This is particularly true up north, where winters are very cold. In the south, where the winters are much milder. If I recall and it’s been a number of years since I studied such things, the typical heat pump really starts losing its competitive edge below freezing, and around the mid 20s, it requires more energy than it saves to self-defrost and still provide heat.
I’m speaking of air-to-air heat pumps. Geothermal is another story, though a much higher installation cost.
Gas furnaces put out some nice, warm heat, and are relatively economical to build and maintain. And I say this as one that works in the electric power industry.
🙃
You’re not even supposed to be posting to me.
Please be civil and respect that.
Or coal.
Nothing that can’t be remedied with a screwdriver, a spare old-style thermostat, a little electrical knowledge, and about 20 minutes. Though I concede that very few people could swap out a thermostat these days, even a simple “heat-only” one.
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