Yearly Cost of Water Heater Operation
I was kind of shocked at the difference in yearly cost to operate between nat. gas water heaters and electric. For instance, comparing two wh’s from the Sears website:
Electric Water Heater (most efficient 50gal one I see in the list):
Kenmore Kenmore Power Miser 12, 50 gal. $299.99 Yearly Operating Cost $397 (8.6cents/kw)
Gas Water Heater
Kenmore Kenmore Power Miser 12, 50 gal. $459.99 Yearly Op Cost $217 (.91/therm)
$180/yr difference in operating cost. Which means in less than a year, the gas unit has paid for its additional cost.
BUT…BUT…BUT…. I like ‘real world’ numbers so I dug out my last Ameren nat. gas bill. Yes, the cost per therm is .91, BUT… with all the other charges and ‘adjustments’, my 9 therm usage cost me $22.47. That comes out to around $2.50/therm, or nearly 3 times as much. Granted, the per therm charge will go down as the usage goes up (because the $12 meter fee would be divided among more therms than 9), but still the actual amount you’re paying will probably be twice what the energy sticker number shows (I just love the increases in nat gas prices).
That would translate to a Yearly Operating Cost of $434, or $37 more per year than the electric unit.
OK, sheeze, I’m curious… gotta dig out the electric bill. OK, got one with a billing date of Sept 6. The listed per kw charge is $.0634 (rate is going to go up pretty soon), but when you add in all the misc charges, I paid $88.85 for 1211kw. That comes out to roughly $.0734/kw, so we’re under the Energy Sticker number by about 15%, which would give a Yearly Operating Cost of $338.
OK, so based on these numbers, the electric yearly cost is $338 and the nat. gas is $434. So electric wins out by $96/yr plus being cheaper to purchase.
Granted, you can bring in gobs of other factors, but I think on the surface at least it shows that in a head-to-head battle, electric water heaters can hold their own.
jt8
“Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. ” –Theodore N. Vail
Replies
Depends entirely where you live. In my kneck of the woods an electric water heater will cost you twice as much to operate while in Nebraska the electric would be about a third of the cost compared to gas. All things are not equal in the world of utility pricing. DanT
All things are not equal in the world of utility pricing.
Absolutely. The house in the boondocks where I grew up was on Rural Electric co-op. They had the highest electric rates in the state. So in that case, the nat. gas would win... or actually, at that point you're dealing with propane, so would have to recalculate the 'gas' cost as well, but considering how outrageous the per kw charge was, propane would win.
I guess my real point should have been: Do the calculations yourself prior to deciding. Don't just assume gas is cheaper.
From a renovation point of view, I try to avoid gas water heaters. I'd much rather run a 30 (or so) amp to an electric unit rather than have to run gas line and vent (and worry about draft and pilots).
jt8
"Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. " --Theodore N. Vail
Uh, you have a $12 metering fee.. you can't divide that into your therms for a 9 therm usage. 9 therms is a trivial amount of usage.
Once you have a real demand on the system... looks like they are figuring what, 250 therms or so... your rate will be much closer to the per therm cost, yes? So you should really just look at the per therm cost and any charges in addition to what you're already paying, since you are already paying them ;) Obviously your per therm cost is not going to be .91 this winter. But you can find out what it is and just use that.
In some areas though, yes, electric appliances can be cheaper.
-=Northeast Radiant Technology=-
Radiant Design, Consultation, Parts Supply
http://www.NRTradiant.com
I just did the same comparison last week. I used the numbers on the tags. Gas water heater had numbers from 1994 and electric had 2004 numbers. I substituted my own numbers and basically saw that the electric is cheaper to operate because of the efficiency. With the gas, too much heat goes up the flue. Gas does have a faster recovery time. Check out http://www.marathonheaters.com . An 85 gallon electric unit is $637 locally. Pricey but very efficient and very well insulated with lifetime tank warranty.
John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.