[Shop-talk] garage heating, electric vs. gas

[Steven Trovato]

I just posted this on the Garage Journal site.

  http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12138

This is what I said:

I have been a very happy propane user, with two Empire direct vent 
heaters in my garage/shop area. Except for the bill, that is. I just 
thought I'd share my latest calculations. My electric is priced 
differently peak vs. off peak. Peak is 13 cents/kwh. Assuming an 80% 
efficient propane heater, the electricity is equivalent to paying 
$2.80/gal for propane. At 90% efficiency, $3.15/gal for propane. And 
at 100% efficiency (impossible) $3.50/gal. Just talked to my propane 
supplier and they quoted me $4.00/gal to fill my 100 gal tank right 
now. I am not a big propane user so I am not going to get the best 
discount rate. And they own the tank, so they build that into the 
price as well. If I owned the tank, they quoted around $3.00/gal. 
Bottom line is, right now for me electricity is cheaper. Strange but 
true. I think I'll be putting in a couple of electric units and 
letting the propane heaters take this winter off. Then we'll see what 
happens in a year.

BTW, here's the calculator I used:
<http://ces.ca.uky.edu/energy/calculators/fuel_price_comparison/>http://ces.ca.uky.edu/energy/calcula...ce_comparison/