The True Cost of Electrification in New England: Electric Conversion Drawbacks
If you’re a resident of Massachusetts or Connecticut, chances are you have been feeling the pressure to convert your home’s HVAC, water heating, and appliances to all-electric systems in order to help reduce the environmental impact of your energy consumption. However, it is important to note that not all energy is created equal. The fact is that electric energy may be causing more harm than good when it comes to heating our New England homes. Keep reading to learn about the true cost of electric conversion, its impact on the environment, your spending, and the energy alternatives you should consider first.
Electricity and the Environment
Have you been wondering which energy source you can rely on while ensuring your home heating has the most minimal carbon footprint? When faced with making a decision about the best energy source to heat your Massachusetts or Connecticut home, you may be toying with keeping your current heating system, converting to a cheaper system, or switching to an eco-friendlier alternative. Although electricity has positioned itself as a more environmentally friendly choice than other popular fueling options, the facts represent a different reality. According to EIA.gov, “In 2021, about 61% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation was produced from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum).” Due to this, electricity generation is the second greatest source of greenhouse gases in the U.S., behind only transportation.
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Can the Grid Support an Increased Demand for Electric Power?
Here’s another fact to consider before switching to electric power: the growing demand for electricity is beginning to place undue stress on the grid. Simply put, the electrical infrastructures in place may not be able to keep up with more and more homes switching to electric heat pumps. The risks are frequent blackouts as well as being left without power or heat. For residents in New England, this is a serious concern that can potentially disrupt our home safety, especially during the height of the winter heating season when we rely on heat to keep our homes operable, habitable, and to protect our plumbing from costly damages.
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The True Cost of Electrification for MA and CT Homeowners
The cost for to convert a home to electric heating can cost up to $20,000 when replacing an old heating system. With the high price tag aside, this leaves us to wonder if converting to electricity is truly worth it. Since we have already discussed the issues with the reliability of electric power, it’s time to consider the monthly cost of electric power. With widespread electrification initiatives in place, its assumed that prices for electricity are going to increase significantly causing affected households to pay hundreds extra for their power each year.
Alternatives to Electric Power for New England Home Heating
Unfortunately, only a fraction of electricity in the US is produced using renewable resources and the prices are continuing to skyrocket. This causes us to reevaluate the energy source we choose for our home heating, appliances, and more. Luckily, both Bioheat® fuel and propane offer themselves as realistic and affordable alternatives to combatting this use of fossil fuels. Propane is a clean-burning, green , easy-to-use fuel source that has one-third the operating costs of electric heat. It supplies even warmth and fast recovery throughout your entire house, also allowing for water heater operation. Additionally, Bioheat® fuel is comprised of renewable biodiesel and ultra-low sulfur heating fuel making it a recycled, renewable, and sustainable blend of agricultural by-products and used cooking oils to create an efficient, reliable fuel source that can effectively heat New England homes. Unlike electric heat, both propane and heating oil can be stored on your property, giving you a greater sense of home safety, protection, and peace of mind, especially when you rely on FSi automatic oil and propane delivery services to keep your home fueled all year long.
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Learn More from the Experts at FSi
FSi focuses on its customers, employees, and community—everyone’s safety. We provide the latest technologies available and top-quality training for our staff which leads to the best customer experience that exists in the home comfort industry today. We hire locally and give back to our community as a thank-you for doing business together. Simply put, we do things better than anyone else. FSi delivers to our neighbors and friends in the Greater Springfield, MA area, treating all of our customers with the same level of care, safety and respect. Our services include Bioheat® fuel, propane & kerosene delivery, HVAC service and installations, water treatment, SmartPay Payment Programs and HVAC Service Plans. Get in contact with us today to learn more or click here to become a customer today!