Electricity cost questions about incubators----110 vrs 220

[hart31]

Quote:
Whoa... Something is way off here.

Propane @ 1.90 per gallon???? That is cheap. Are you sure???
What is your electric KW cost????

1 gallon of propane contains 92000 btu's of heat
1 KW of electricity is 3400 btu's
Electric heat is usually more efficient than propane but it is very rarely cheaper.

I doubt your assumption that propane heat is more expensive than electric heat.
Without knowing your KW rate and the type of heating system you have I
can't be sure.


You are correct about the incubator. It actually is helping heat your house.
Let's do the math:
Assuming your bator is 50 watts then it is producing 170 btus (max) per hour.
(Assuming the heater is always on - It isn't but let's just use this)
After running for 541 hours (22.5 days) your bator causes you to use 1 less
gallon of propane. So, if you set up 200 bators you can heat your house and
feed your town. SOunds good to me.

If I am understanding it right most propane furnaces are about 85% efficient (15% goes up the chimney) while the local electricians claim that electric heat is at least theoretically 100% efficient

So: 1 gallon propane @92,000 btu's delivers 78,200 btu's (I know some are better)

78,200/3400=23 KW
I currently pay $.0688/KWH (And cheaper if you have electric heat with a separate meter: $.05/KWH I think)

23 X $.0688=$1.58

I realize that my comparison is a bit simplified and my coment about the incubator heat was meant a bit facetiously

I think the electrical companies have already petitioned the public service commission for a cent or cent and a half increase.

PS: propane went to $1.95 today two years ago you could fill in the off season for about 65 cents per gallon

 

[mdbucks]

Quote:
Just got oil delivered 3.229 per gallon, couple of years ago locked in at 79.9. wish I could get it for that today.

 

[silkiechicken]

Electric heat is one of the worst types of heat to use directly as it is highly in efficent in the process of getting the energy to your house to make heat out of. HOWEVER, using electricity to run a heatpump IS efficient and the way to go if you are using electricity. That is because a heat pump basically pulls energy from a large resivore, that doesn't have to be warmer than the house and pumps the energy it into your home.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Hart31, wow, your're right. 6 cents a KW?? Holy ****.

We pay $2.66 a gallon for propane but our KW rate is almost
19 cents. We have electric forced air heat and a propane
stove in the living room. The propane provides 90% of our heat.
I plan to switch to propane hot water and a propane dryer soon.

Things do cost more in Connecticut than other areas of the country
but your energy costs make me sick. Actually our energy costs make
me sick.

I'm happy you corrected me and clarified this. Holy ****.

Don

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Most people don't get that. Only 20% of the energy produced by coal, natural gas,
or oil actually makes it from the power plant to our houses.

Heatpump technology is another technology that actually works but is getting
overshadowed by the politics of alternate energy.

 

[sgray136]

I got a good jolt out of the whole post. It was rather electrifying...

 

[PurpleChicken]

Since we are talking about energy most people don't realize
that 100 new nuclear plants can produce all the electricity
we need plus the extra power can be used to extract hydrogen
from water. Our cars can easily run off hydrogen combustion.

This isn't even adding fuel cell technologies to the mix.

Ohh, we have trillions of $$$ in nuclear fuel sitting idle and millions
of tons of nuclear waste that can be reprocessed but can't be
because the Carter administration shut it down.

I'm no fan of France but they get 80% of their electricity from
nuclear plants and safely reprocess their fuel.

Politics, politics, and more politics.

 

[unionwirewoman]

Quote:
It depends on where you live on eficiency of a heat pump . If it gets below 35-40 degrees (outside) the efficiency of your heatpump decreases because the emergency heat / auxilary heat will kick in ( emergency heat on a heat pump is electric heat ) when I did service work here (Mt.) you would often times see that it kicked on quite often in the dead of winter . Heat pumps are for warm climate areas , but most people don't undrestand this .

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
It depends on where you live on eficiency of a heat pump . If it gets below 35-40 degrees (outside) the efficiency of your heatpump decreases because the emergency heat / auxilary heat will kick in ( emergency heat on a heat pump is electric heat ) when I did service work here (Mt.) you would often times see that it kicked on quite often in the dead of winter . Heat pumps are for warm climate areas , but most people don't undrestand this .

As usual, you are right on the money. Silkie mentioned a "reservoir" so I'm assuming
she may be talking about using ground water for heat absorbtion, not outside air.
I've been trying to buy an air based heat pump to add to my air handler but it is
so hard to buy one in CT. All the HVAC folks don't like them. I know people who use
them here and are very happy.

 

[hart31]

Quote:
Fuel oil is about $3.25/gal, gasoline $2.97/gal and diesel for my pickup truck is $3.67

Many things are cheaper here, other things are more expensive. Housing, real estate, and taxes are low but so are salaries. I work for North Dakota State University. The last statistics I saw put us number 49th among the states for K-12 teacher salaries and about 46th or 47th for higher ed salaries