Which is more efficient, propane furnace & water heat, or electric water heat and dual fuel heating?
My house was built in 1994, when the average price of propane was 88.8 CENTS a gallon. I’m currently paying about .84/gallon after taxes and delivery costs. With my current consumption, I am paying approximately .15 per day for propane, which I find hard to stomach. My power company offers a program where I am given an electric water heater free of charge for switching from gas, and a rebate of 00.00-00.00 for switching from gas furnace to dual fuel heating. I’ve already started washing ALL my laundry in cold water, plus usually putting my 3 yr old in the shower with me to save money on water heat, plus my thermostat is generally set no higher than 70 but more often between 65 & 68 degrees. I *do* use a dish washer once a day, but this still does not seem to be just cause for .00 per day, considering my other conservation efforts. Also, I just had the gas company test for leaks, they found none. We have double pane insulated windows and insulated doors, I don’t know what else to do. Is it simply the high price of propane that is making my energy bill so high? Would I be better of taking advantage of the offer I described above from my electric company? I cannot afford my energy bill at it’s current rate.
I pay .050980 PER KWH, but am not sure about what size unit I have. I know my water heater holds 40 gallons, but that’s about all I know of that. I’ve only lived in this house for about 45 days now. I have a 250 gallon tank, which had 20% when I moved in 9/30/08, I purchased 100 gallons a few weeks later, and then today (11/13) I purchased 100 more gallons, and my tank was down to 5%. You say my consumption sounds about right for the the northern U.S. or Canada, but I’m in the central portion of Alabama, a far cry from the regions you mentioned. I don’t even have to run my heater constantly, and it has yet to go below 32 degrees here this year, and only made it that low once.