On 9 May 2021 at 14:38, Jim Walls via EV wrote: > I heat my house, make hot water, and cook (except for the microwave) > with natural gas. I can do all that for less than electric heating one room > part time. I'm in no hurry to move away from natural gas for making heat.
I have two reactions to this. 1. You're just one case. Not everyone has the same relative costs for fuel gas and electricity. 2. What it costs you as an individual is only part of the picture. We also have to consider what it costs society - both monetary and health. Ultimately that's a cost to you too, because your taxes have to cover it. Comments on the above: Our costs for fuel gas here in the US are temporarily unnaturally low, because the determined scramble to crush every bit of shale rock under this nation and release all its fuel gas has created a gas surplus. It won't last. Other nations have to import their gas, in some cases from nations they'd rather not have to patronize. Much of western Europe is shifting to renewables, both for this political reason, and to reduce their carbon emissions. So typically they price their gas to encourage electricity use, and in some cases no longer approve new fuel gas installations. Take France for example. Electricity is about 0.16 euro per KWH, and gas is about 0.075 euro per KWH. Seems like a no-brainer at first glance. But a heat pump with a COOP of 3.3 (typical minisplit) effectively cuts the electricity cost to 0.048 euro per KWH of heat produced. When you do the math, you find that, in France, a minisplit is the lowest cost home heat source. It's even cheaper than heating with wood, formerly the low cost champ. As a further incentive, the French government subsidizes heat pump installations. BTW, they also subsidize EVs directly, at 7,000 euros for most models, and give homeowners a tax credit toward installing EVSEs. David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = The business model of the internet is surveillance. -- Bruce Schneier = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
