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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]DP,  however natural gas is much cheaper than electricity so you don't really save money by switching and are probably paying more.[/quote]

Dominion Energy currently charges about $1.5 per "therm" of natural gas.

1.0 therms = 29.3 kilowatt hours

So the price of natural gas can be expressed as 150 cents / 29.3 khw = 5.1 cents per KWH.

For residential electricity, the price is about 12 cents per KWH.

This means that if a heat pump is 12 / 5.1 = 235% efficient, then that would be about the break-even point.

I think most modern heat pumps have efficiencies that exceed 235%, which suggests that heating one's home with a heat pump could be cheaper than using natural gas.

Note that I've assume 100% efficiency for the natural gas furnace, when in fact the actual efficiency would be lower. So I've stacked the deck in favor of natural gas.

[/quote]

We pay 21 cents total per kwh for electric in Maryland. Not sure what our natural gas costs are. Heat pumps don't always operate at max efficiency.[/quote]

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