A question for mobile home owners with an electric furnace?

Question

How does an electric furnace compare with an oil furnace both in heating efficiency and overall costs?

Answer 1

As far as efficiency, electric is tops; 100 percent of the money you spend on fuel gets used to heat the home; none goes up a chimney. The drawback is the cost of electric power is the most expensive. If you have to go electric, consider a heat pump. You pay to move the heat, but not the heat itself. It also serves as an A/C in summer. Heat pumps are only efficient when the weather is above 40* and dry.

Oil furnaces have come a long way in the past few years. They are much more efficient, cleaner burning, and lower maintenance than in the past. Drawback is you pay quite a bit for fuel all at one time, unless you are with a company that lets you spread payments out over the season. The tank can also be an issue with some folks. On the up side, newer furnaces can burn bio-diesel. As for safety, "oil" is actually diesel fuel. It must be mixed with oxygen in order to burn. There is little to no danger of uncontrolled fire from diesel-oil fuel.

Dollar for dollar, oil is less expensive to operate.

Answer 2

Electric furnace is itself usually cheaper for the unit itself. But they require alot of electricity to run and the price of copper today can make the installation cost considerable. Also need to be aware if the mobile home originally came with electric heat. The breaker box may not have enough capacity for the additional load of an electric central heat unit. WIth electric you have a pretty much fixed cost per btu of heating. Oil or gas is usually cheaper to operate especially with higher efficiency furnaces. Realize that depending on where you live heat pumps can be another acceptable cost effiecient alternative. Ground source heat pump is expensive to install but will give you a real savinges in operation costs.

Answer 3

*Any* thermal conversion by electricity is going to be more expensive than other systems. That said, home heating (I assume that's your area of interest) is mostly a matter of preference. If the electrical systems in your area are reliable, and the house is relatively well-insulated, then you can probably stand a day or two of power outage. (Depending on your winter and summer temps.)

I am a firm believer in back-up systems, though. Either an alternative heating system, or a stand-by generator capable of providing enough "juice" to match your daily demands.

While oil or gas heating systems are good, even they rely on electrically-driven thermostats. If the power is out, so is the thermostat, and often, the ignition systems. A back-up generator can fix that.

wsulliva

Answer 4

It's hard to believe that it would cost 500 to cover the electrical needs of a mobile home. I live in an 1800 sqft house with minimal insulation. We are a family of 6 and our most costly bill in 300 a month. You might consider having insulation blown into the walls. My neighbor just did his house for $1200 and he said he saw a 30% savings on his bills. Good luck, hope you don't end up with a 500 bill.

Answer 5

A gas furnace is more efficient, while an electric furnace is alot safer for your family!
Hope this helps!
~Stephanie

Answer 6

I prefer electric becasue there is no smell anywhere.

I also think the price is lower considering gas prices today.

The only problem is if the electricity goes out. You may want a stand by.

Answer 7

If this is for a mobile home consider that oil is more dangerous as far as fire saftey.
Do you have children to consider.

Answer 8

They both work well. Electic is less maintnance,but oil is cheaper.

Answer 9

oil ib cheaper