electric heat???

Does anyone here have electric heat?

Right now we have forced air...but we are currently bidding on a home with electric.

Everyone is telling us NOT to buy a house with electric heat, because it's so costly. We have the current homeowners elcetric bills, and they pay $360 per month (budget plan). We think that's pretty doable.

It will cost about $10,000 to upgrade to propane (the only type of heat we can upgrade to, there are no gas lines, and oil is not possible, no basement).

Opinions? TIA!

Re: electric heat???

Re: electric heat???

The only upside i can think of for electric heat is that you can heat the rooms that you are in, where as with oil heat you will heat the whole house. I can not beleive that electric heat is cheaper than oil/gas/propane in the long run.

Re: electric heat???

DH and I almost bought a condo with electric heat. we did some research on it and yes, it is the most expensive way to heat your home. even LIPA said as much. it's not 2x more, but it's more.

you can call LIPA and ask them what the owners avg bill was last year. it's not confidential info.

ETA: if you can switch to propane, do it! it is much more efficient. it will cost you more initially, but believe me, you do NOT want to be a slave to LIPA and their ever increasing bills!

Message edited 10/9/2006 10:21:17 AM.

Re: electric heat???

Hmmm, I am not sure about putting the oil tank outside...

Oh, we live in CT, sorry...no LIPA thank goodness!! Hee hee. We would eventually switch over to propane, but not for at least a year or two. I'd like to see how we do with the electric first, plus we need to save up the money.

Thanks for your responses, keep em coming!

Re: electric heat???

another thing we learned about elec heat. it is VERY dry! so you need a humidifier.

Re: electric heat???

On LI it is possible to put the oil tank outside. They have them like where I am we are by the water and no one has a basement...

Re: electric heat???

Your best bet would be to look into solar energy for that home. My DH & I have been considering it for a while & we went on the Solar Open House Tour on Saturday. We visited several homes, many of which pay NOTHING for electric. Some even get money back.
Most electric companies are forced by the government to give huge rebates. There is a guy in my town that has a 4 bedroom colonial with an IGP & hot tub, 4 computers, 2 fridges & a freezer, 4 window a/c's & he gets a check back from LIPA. His system was 80,000, but he only paid $6,000 of that.
I don't know anything about conneticut but I'd check it out.

Re: electric heat???

DH and I used to have a condo with electric heat here on LI. It didn't do a very good job of making the place nice and warm, especially on those really cold winter days. Our neighbors complained of the same thing. The systems weren't really designed to handle the demands of the north east. They do better for the south, where it may get cold but not bitter like here. It is also very dry and can be expensive for the output (IMO). Personally, I wouldn't want it if I didn't have to! The oil heat in the house is so much better.

Re: electric heat???

we have electric heat...

from what i understand, considering oil/gas prices they way they are, its pretty much the same if not cheapier...

it depends on A. square feet of space you need to heat, B. how well insulted your home is.

Our first winter with elertic heat, our bill was about 150-175 (not bugdet) and thats considering the crazy amount of technology (tv,computers) going on in my home 1100 sq ft of space.

During the day we left all the heat off and turned it on once we got home. Granted, some days were cold once we got home, the heat came on quick. We only heated the rooms we were in and turn on the heat in Master Bedroom about 20 mins before planning to sleep.

We just got a dog so we will probally leave the heat on in the living room during the day but i think it can be cheapier depending on your set up.

How big is the home?

yes, the dry heat can be a possible problem, we would crack a window just to get some fresh air in and it helped with the dryness.....

Message edited 10/10/2006 8:27:35 PM.

Re: electric heat???

My father owned a high ranch in Northport in the early 90s that had electric heat. I can only tell you that his electric bill was INSANE! I mean INSANE! I am talking close to 800 a month

Message edited 10/11/2006 6:07:41 AM.

Re: electric heat???

The house is pretty big, that's why I am worried. It's just about 3,000 sq feet.

If the bills are ridiculous this winter, we will bite the bullet and convert to oil or propane next year.

Thank you all for responding!