Electric Heat

[Showkey]

And it varies state to state !

Actually it varies by the power company so your "neighbor could have a beter deal than you".......some are friendly to buying power and some have better lobbiest than others.

The real complexity is they do not want competition.
Power has become commodity.........when the last township I lived in ( in Illinois) voted to use a new supplier the rates dropped 30% over night. We are likely to have a crisis in the power business in the next 20 years.

 

[DC73]

Actually it varies by the power company so your "neighbor could have a beter deal than you".......some are friendly to buying power and some have better lobbiest than others.

I think the bottom line is that no power company wants to buy back power from a customer at a rate higher than they can get from another source. Those that do are forcing their other customers to subsidize.

It's kinda like asking Home Depot to buy 2x4s from their retail customers for $4 when they can get them from their wholesale supplier for $2. If they do that, they have to raise the price on 2x4s for everyone because their net expenses just went up. The only one who benefits is the guy who sold 2x4s to HD for $4.

DC

 

[yeldogt]

Free is going to be hard to justify not using... The cost will be equiplemt and running enough power to the house.

You can get electric boilers that could connect into the present oil setup -- and a typical electric water heater to replace the oil unit -- will need to be more gallons ( my oil was only 32 gal and I went to a 50gal electric)

A new electric line (service) from the street to a new panel (it can be outside). The new panel feeds the electric boiler and the water heater -- the current panel becomes a sub-panel.

The key to electric boilers is making the service large enough that you don't get any volt drop when the electric boilers kick in.

 

[Showkey]

I think the bottom line is that no power company wants to buy back power from a customer at a rate higher than they can get from another source. Those that do are forcing their other customers to subsidize.

DC

Home depot does not have a govt issued lock on the market of 2x4 with guaranteed pricing, profit and captive market with no competition. Until recent actions that allows competition in some markets that is slowly changing the landscape in the consumers favor.

It is more like......power company spending millions on advertising and programs to get consumers to conserve and use less power. Then the power companies asking for a double digit price increases because their revenue is down.

The lesson for generating your own power is right size the system for your use and do not expect to sell back in most areas.

 

[raffaelli]

Thanks for all the input. We are currently running the heat on a handful of plug in heaters. They are temporary but are working well to keep the oil burner quiet. We have started the conversation with the utility company to change the service to 400a. They dont seem all that interested right now so we will pick it up in the spring when we narrow down the load. We will add an electric hot water heater and electric baseboards.