Maybe my gas is more expensive than other parts of the Midwest. But my old gas water heater just died about 6 weeks ago. I swapped in a 55 gallon hybrid / electric heat pump model. I did the re-wire and install myself (which I acknowledge not everyone is comfortable doing).
My most recent gas and electric bills were compelling. I’ve been using my gas furnace already, and my gas bill is the lowest it’s ever been since I bought this house 5 years ago (including summer, non-heating months). And my electric bill increase was negligible.
Sure, my old unit was not running as efficiently as it could bave. And newer gas models probably have improved efficiency. But I can’t deny the savings in my bills. Between the tax rebate and the savings, I’ll make back my extra investment and then some before this thing dies.
Kelsenellenelvial@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
This is true in central Canada too. Heat pumps get pushed saying they put out 3 times as much heat as the energy they use, but electricity is 7x the cost of natural gas.
OminousOrange@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
Right, they make absolute sense if you don’t have access to cheap natural gas. I’m worried for the day NG prices rise though. It’ll be a double whammy for those of us in SK with the vast majority of the heating in the populated south provided by NG and a grid that has a significant portion produced by NG. You’ll see the increase even if you aren’t heating with gas.
Bazoogle@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Governments need to punish carbon emitting fuel sources more. People are going to use the cheaper option, not the one that will benefit the planet. It needs to be cheaper to use renewable energy, or at the very least energy efficient options need incentives.
Koordinator_O@lemmy.world 11 months ago
No, they most definitely should not! Implementing such a measure unnecessarily increases the difficulty for low-income families. Instead, there should be support for the installation or a tax reduction for those who have one. Let’s focus on making it easier for people to adopt environmentally friendly practices without making things more expensive.
randon31415@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Well, they have took off in Europe due to the cost of natural gas and … the source being a evil dictator who uses his control over natural gas to control other countries foreign policy.