We wanted to build a totally electric house - where all the energy is supplied from solar. We didn't want to burn anything on site. We were eliminating our carbon footprint for this house. The heat would come from a mini-split (down to -10 or so) and then from an electric boiler that supplied in floor heat.
Then the builder asked us what a buyer of the house would think when there was no furnace in northern Minnesota. He thought we should at least install ductwork for a future buyer. So, we'd be putting in ducts, and in floor tubes, and the mini split. Certainly not cost effective.
Natural gas connection fee is $9/month - so we were hoping to eliminate that. Our monthly gas bill is currently $16.14 in the summer and that includes our stove, water heater, and clothes dryer - all for $7.14. It would take a lot of panels to generate that much power.
Crow Wing Power buys all their electricity from coal fired plants. So, the power we use when we are not generating our own is from one of the most carbon-intensive sources. Mining coal, shipping it, burning in power plants, transmitting, and then using electricity to generate heat is one of the least efficient ways to heat the house.
By thumbing our nose at natural gas, were we really gaining anything financially or environmentally?
I guess we will just put in a very small furnace and insulate the walls so we hardly have to use it.
Then the builder asked us what a buyer of the house would think when there was no furnace in northern Minnesota. He thought we should at least install ductwork for a future buyer. So, we'd be putting in ducts, and in floor tubes, and the mini split. Certainly not cost effective.
Natural gas connection fee is $9/month - so we were hoping to eliminate that. Our monthly gas bill is currently $16.14 in the summer and that includes our stove, water heater, and clothes dryer - all for $7.14. It would take a lot of panels to generate that much power.
Crow Wing Power buys all their electricity from coal fired plants. So, the power we use when we are not generating our own is from one of the most carbon-intensive sources. Mining coal, shipping it, burning in power plants, transmitting, and then using electricity to generate heat is one of the least efficient ways to heat the house.
By thumbing our nose at natural gas, were we really gaining anything financially or environmentally?
I guess we will just put in a very small furnace and insulate the walls so we hardly have to use it.