[lbatie]

If electric heat turns out to be a better more cost effective option, how much would it cost roughly to convert Gas (water heater) system to Electric. Could you do this if easily if the tank was replaced with a tankless unit, and what type of cost am I looking at, to conver overall from gas to electric, where the central air in the home is electric and for heat gas.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[hvac1000]

Stay with gas. If you do not have a high efficiency furnace get one. Conversion costs depend upon 10 or 15 variables and you will need a on site estimates to see which is cost effective where you live and with what type of structure you are conditioning.

[montyg]

Hvac said it, "stay with gas". If you have gas water heater now then there is NO better way to go. Recovery time is much much faster and more than likely, cheaper too. If you lose power for days as we do here sometimes, you will still more than likely be able to take a hot shower rather than a cold one. As far as your whole house heater, you will be much more pleased w/gas. Hotter and probably less expensive.

[Eric D]

If electric heat turns out to be a better more cost effective option, how much would it cost roughly to convert Gas (water heater) system to Electric. Could you do this if easily if the tank was replaced with a tankless unit, and what type of cost am I looking at, to conver overall from gas to electric, where the central air in the home is electric and for heat gas.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Ibatie,
I see you have two postings asking roughly the same question about changing to electric. Why are you thinking of changing? What state are you in and what type of home? How old is the home?

In most cases, gas is the cheapest up front cost to install. The only way electric can win out is if your electric cmpany gives you some type of cost savings for using electric. You can also do better with geothermal on operation cost for heating and cooling, but they cost much more then a gas system to install.

I would really like to better understand why you want to change.

Eric D

[caibuadday]

If electric heat turns out to be a better more cost effective option, how much would it cost roughly to convert Gas (water heater) system to Electric. Could you do this if easily if the tank was replaced with a tankless unit, and what type of cost am I looking at, to conver overall from gas to electric, where the central air in the home is electric and for heat gas.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

What are the rate for gas/ electric, 1 kw get you 3414 BTU and 1 therm is 100k btu(but at 80% eff it is 80k)

[Eric D]

what are the rate for gas/ electric, 1 kw get you 3414 btu and 1 therm is 100k btu(but at 80% eff it is 80k)

Straight use of electric for heat give the btu's you pointed out. However, if you are using geothermal each kwatt can produce 9010 BTU. About a 4.6 to 1 ratio due to the heat extracted from the ground. At least in my area this beats propane hands down and if I could get natural gas base on pricing near me, geothermal electric still beats it by more then 20% savings. Efficiency goes even higher for cooling. One major downside is the cost to first install.

Eric D